Rock's Rarest Artifacts

The most expensive memorabilia in music, from Kurt Cobain's sweaters to B. B. King's guitar

JOHN CLARKE JR.

Posted Nov 14, 2008 1:16 PM

1965 Fender Stratocaster owned by Jimi Hendrix
Value: $490,000
Current Owner: Collector, United States

The first of many Fenders Hendrix burned onstage, he torched this one at the end of a show at the Astoria in Finsbury Park, North London, in March 1967. While Hendrix was off being treated for minor burns, publicist Tony Garland snatched the scorched Strat and stored it in his parents garage in Hove, East Sussex, where it collected dust for nearly 40 years. The guitar was discovered last year by Garland's nephew, who auctioned it off this last month in London. "I am going to play it," said American collector Daniel Boucher, who had the winning bid. "I hope some of it rubs off on me."

Bob Dylan's Letter to Jerry Garcia, 1995
Value: $35,000
Current Owner: Anonymous Collector

Dylan was looking for guest artists for a Jimmie Rodgers tribute alum when he dashed off a note to his longtime friend Jerry Garcia. Dylan asked if Garcia would do some yodeling on the album. "You don't have to yodel, but if you want to yodel, that's OK too...anyway, if it's not too much to ask, think about a Jimmie song...whatever you decide is ok with me." Garcia reportedly read the letter backstage at a Dead show before giving it to a tech. With a weakened voice and ill health, Garcia did a session for the tribute album. Two weeks later he died. "Given its connection to Jerry's last recording session i would say it's a very important item," said Grateful Dead historian and author Dennis McNally. "I don't know pen-and-ink letters Dylan has written to anyone or to Jerry but I cant believe there's been many."

Elton John's Piano
Value: $164,500
Current Owner: Anonymous Collector

One of the pianos that Elton John and Bernie Taupin sat around in the late 1960s and early 1970s to write a number of hits — most notably "Your Song" and "Tiny Dancer" — was auctioned off for charity in 2004.

Slash's Top Hat
Value: $50,000
Current Owner: Slash

In 2005, a thief lifted Slash's top hat from the back of his limo during the Grammy Awards. One month later, a California man came forward asking for a reward after claiming he bought the iconic topper from a transient for $50,000. He contacted Slash and asked for $50,000 or he'd auction it on eBay. "This guy has popped up," Slash told a radio station. "It's the right hat. I don't know how he got it. It's just an article of clothing. It's personal. I've had it for a long time. I just want the hat back." An undisclosed amount was paid, reportedly under $50,000, by Slash's t-shirt company and the hat was returned.

Madonna's Cone Bra, Blonde Ambition Tour, 1990
Value: $22,000
Current Owner: Museum of Fashion and Textiles, Santiago, Chile

Madonna memorabilia commands record prices, and out of all of Madge gear the cone-shaped bra designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier for her Blond Ambition tour was the crown jewel in the Material Girl's arsenal. The brassiere netted almost $22,000 at Christie's in London auction in 2001 (it was only expected to fetch $4,500, said a Christie's spokeswoman). Later, a woman won the bra in a British radio station competition and flipped it for an undisclosed amount to the Museum of Fashion and Textiles in Santiago, Chile where it is currently on display. Since then, Madonna unloaded a closet full of her costumes which broke the bank with an eye-popping $205,332, with a beaded Dolce and Gabbana bra worn during 1993's The Girlie Tour fetching $23,850 by itself.

B.B. King's Gibson ES-345 "Lucille" Guitar
Value: Estimated $200,000
Current Owner: B.B. King

B.B. King has never sold his beloved "Lucille," his classic black Gibson ES-345. The guitar that King played on "The Thrill Is Gone" and "Sneaking Around" is now safe and sound at the recently opened King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, a $15 million blues showcase housed in an old cotton gin. King named the Gibson after a two men got into a fight over a woman named Lucille at a gig in Twist, Arkansas in 1949. During the brawl, a kerosene lamp was knocked over and the hall went up in flames. After the hall was cleared, King realized he left his guitar inside, ran in to save it and nearly lost his life. The rest is history. "I'm very crazy about Lucille," King has said. "I've had many guitars. She's taken me a long way." King originally bought the guitar for $30. The estimated worth is now between $150,000 and $200,000.

Kurt Cobain's Cardigans
Value: $40 million
Current Owner: Courtney Love; currently on auction at Christie's

"I'm going to have an auction," said Courtney Love, describing her house was like a mausoleum after hubby Kurt Cobain killed himself. "My daughter doesn't need to inherit a giant bag full of flannel shirts," she said. After gifting her daughter a sweater, a guitar and the lyrics to "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Love put the rest of Cobain's cardigans and keepsakes on the auction block for an estimated $40 million. In a previous auction, Cobain's Mark lV-style Mosrite Gospel guitar was auctioned in 1994 for $75,000, with the original case bears the words "NIRVANA" and "Fuck Elvis!" in white paint.

Gene Simmons' Demon Boots, Alive! Era
Value: $20-30,000
Current Owner: On auction

Plenty of Demon boots from 1990s Kiss tours are available, usually paired with four full costume regalia, and fetch up to $200,000. But perhaps no pair of boots is more coveted than the demon monster platform kickers Gene Simmons rocked during Kiss' 1975-76 tour Alive! "Obviously the Alive! period costumes are big," said Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley. "If we're talking the holy grail, that would be the original outfits when we first played with Iggy and The Stooges at the Academy of Music." Stanley says when the band first started wearing stage gear, they cobbled the outfits together from from a number of low-rent places. "My collar came from a pet shop," Stanley says. "I was an XL German Shepard."

Jerry Garcia's Irwin Guitars "Tiger" and "Wolf," 1980s Tours
Value: $1.74 million
Current Owner: Collector, United States

Through the 1960s, Jerry Garcia used an array of custom Fender Strats and Gibson Les Pauls. By the early 1970s, lutheier Doug Irwin started crafting him masterpieces from exotic hardwoods. With the DNA of a Gibson SG, Irwin's first was experimental MIDI guitar called the Wolf (Garcia played on the famed Europe '72 tour), which he Garcia paid $1,500. Next, Irwin crafted a hefty guitar (14 pounds!) named Tiger ($5,800), which Garcia played from 1979 to 1990. As per Garcia's final wishes, the Irwin guitars were returned to their maker, resulting in band infighting and courtroom drama. In 2002, Tiger and Wolf were sold at auction for an eye-popping $1.74 million. The sale of Tiger ($957,500) and Wolf ($789,500) mark the highest world record sale for a guitar, easily topping Clapton's Fender Strat "Brownie" he played on Layla that fetched $450,00 in 1999, or the previous record held by the white Strat Hendrix played at Woodstock, which sold for $325,000 in 1990.

Michael Jackson's Leather Suit, Worn on the Cover of Bad
Value: Approximately $85,000
Current Owner: On auction

First worn on the cover of his hit 1987 album Bad, Michael Jackson's black leather ensemble became the staple of his stage garb during the subsequent two year world tour. The suit is expected to fetch as much as $85,000.

The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Drum Cover
Value: $945,000
Current Owner: Anonymous collector, U.K.

The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover is perhaps the most widely recognizable of all time. The infamous bass drum cover — the centerpiece of the artwork — sold for nearly $1 million last July at Christie's in London. An anonymous bidder bought the hand-painted bass skin for $945,000, which was four times the original estimate. The cover was designed by Sir Peter Blake in 1967.

Pete Townshend's Acoustic Guitar, Used to Write "Behind Blue Eyes"
Value: $27,115
Current Owner: Collector, U.K.

While most of Pete Townshend's guitars met a splintering end, some managed to survive. Two guitars recently auctioned off include a cherry-red 1967 Gibson SG Special he played in the early 1970s and a classical Spanish acoustic he used to pen "Behind Blue Eyes." "I used this guitar to compose 'Behind Blue Eyes' and a number of other important songs," writes Townshend. "My daughter Minta used it to learn on and I got it back from her about 3 years ago." The guitar was sold last July for $27,115 at an Alliance for Sustainability event at Christie's.

Jim Morrison's Last Notebook
Value: $91,000
Current Owner: Collector, United States

A holy grail for any Doors fan, Morrison's final notebook features a collection of poetry, partial lyrics and some sprawling journal entries all written during the final months before he died.

John Lennon's 1965 VOX Organ, Played at Shea Stadium and on The Ed Sullivan Show
Value: $200,000
Current Owner: The Vox Shoppe

Lennon used this keyboard when the band played The Ed Sullivan Show and last used it at the historic August 15, 1965, Shea Stadium concert. In front of a crowd of 55,000 at Shea, Lennon closed with a furious rendition of "I'm Down," during which he wildly pounded the keyboard and broke it. As the story goes, the organ was unloaded in Atlanta, traded in for functioning Vox Continental organ from the Thomas Organ Center - The Vox Shoppe. The organ has been owned by The Vox Shoppe for nearly four decades.

Sex Pistols Press Kit
Value: $5-6,000
Current Owner: On auction

Out of all the items to be auctioned this month at Christie's first punk rock auction, a rare autographed press kit from the Sex Pistols' 1977-78 U.S. tour is the greatest draw. The packet includes press releases, a poster and publicity photos signed by Johnny Rotten, Paul Cook, Steve Jones and Sid Vicious. "The press kit is a great piece. It was presenting the Sex Pistols to American press," said Christie's pop culture chief Simeon Lipman. "It's just so unique. These are incredibly rare. I mean, these guys were generally the type to be signing a ton of autographs."