Last month, the long-lost Framus Hootenanny 12-string guitar, used by John Lennon on The Beatles’ groundbreaking 1965 album Help!, was uncovered in an attic in the British countryside. Now, the acoustic guitar has sold at an auction in New York for a record-breaking fee.
A starring lot in the ‘Music Icons’ two-day auction organised by Julien’s Auctions at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York, the 12-string guitar was originally estimated to reach between $600,000 and $800,000. However, when the guitar went under the hammer on May 29th, it fetched a whopping $2.9 million (around £2.3 million). The sale makes Lennon’s guitar the most expensive Beatles guitar ever sold at auction.
The reason for the astronomical fee likely comes from the fact that the Framus guitar was thought lost for so many years, as well as the excellent condition the guitar has managed to maintain. Reportedly, Lennon originally gave the guitar to the Scottish singer-songwriter Gordon Waller, who then passed it onto a road manager. The history of the instrument then goes fuzzy, until it was uncovered earlier this year in the attic of an unassuming rural house in the countryside.
David Goodman, CEO of Julien’s Auctions, said of the record-breaking sale, “This guitar is not only a piece of music history but a symbol of John Lennon’s enduring legacy,” adding, “Today’s unprecedented sale is a testament to the timeless appeal and reverence of The Beatles’ music and John Lennon”.
The guitar was a vital part of Beatles history, having been used to write the entirety of Help! as well as some of the band’s biggest hits during the early 1960s. Its vital importance to the Fab Four is reflected in the fact that it has now become the most expensive Beatles guitar in auction history. The guitar was purchased by a telephone bid, according to Julien’s, with the new owner yet to reveal themselves at the time of writing.
The final sale price of Lennon’s lost Framus 12-string Hootenanny dwarfed the auction house’s initial estimates of $600,000 to $800,000, which in itself would have been a record-breaking price for a Beatles guitar.
In addition to Lennon’s guitar, Julien’s Auctions sold off a variety of Beatles memorabilia. For instance, a Ludwig drum kit used by Ringo Starr sold for another record price of $2.2 million and the drumhead used on the band’s iconic performance on The Ed Sullivan Show went for $2.1 million.
