TIL The Top Ten Most Expensive Pieces of Rock 'n' Roll Memorabilia
The other day I wrote about the son of the former Sex Pistols' manager burning millions of dollars worth of memorabilia. In the comments, @steevc brought up a really good point. He reminded me that the idea of anyone spending a large sum of money on memorabilia is pretty crazy. Yet, people do it every day.
I bet just about everyone my age can find something in the
picture above that they would like to own. (I'll take the Kiss Colorforms)
It may not be my thing, but there are plenty of valid reasons why people buy memorabilia.
Some of these buyers think of the purchase as an investment. Some people buy original works of art by Renaissance painters... others buy pointy bras worn by Madonna.
Others may buy the memorabilia to help remind them of a happy time in their life. Perhaps hanging an autographed marquee poster from a small show Nirvana played at a local club helps them reminisce about when they were a wild and crazy yoot (What's a yoot?).
Perhaps some collectors simply like having a conversation starter. "Want to come over to my place and see the real shoes worn by the New Kids on the Block?"
Ummm no.
But to each his own...
Whatever the inspiration, this topic made me wonder... what is the most anyone has paid for Rock 'n' Roll memorabilia?
After fighting thorough several click bait sites, I finally found one that answered my question... on one page.
Here are the top 10 most expensive pieces of Rock 'n' Roll memorabilia according to therichest.com.
10 The original artwork for The Clash's album London Calling. $199,380
9 Elvis' Rolls Royce $182,385
8 Costumes actually worn by Kiss $200,132
7 Jimi Hendrix's guitar $328,291
6 John Lennon Lyrics (Give peace a Chance): $698,447
5 Eric Clapton’s 1939 Guitar: $698,447
4 Eric Clapton’s “Blackie” Guitar: $874,092
3 The Beatles Sgt. Pepper Drumskin: $897,390
2 John Lennon’s Handwritten Lyrics (A day in the life): $1,344,477
1 John Lennon’s 1965 Rolls-Royce Phantom V: $2,898,725
If you could own one piece of music memorabilia, what would it be?
I would choose the giant robot that KMFDM (actually it was a side project MDFMK) used on their tour about 20 years ago. The thing was hilarious! The guitarist had sensors on him so that the robot would mimic the guitarist's movement. Pretty epic. Where would I put a giant robot? Who knows? This is a fantasy after all.
KMFDM doing it again...
I don't get how clapton memorabilia is at such a premium. I don't think he would even make most people's list of top 5 all time guitarsts.
I don't really get the appeal of rock memorabilia, but if i had to pick something id say "evil pink's" uniform from the wall. Or maybe just one of those hammer firepots.
Excellent choice!
Cool
Holy crap, people spend a lot of money on this stuff! 1.3m$ for a handwritten lyric sheet! That is absolutely insane.
Yeah that blew me away too. I hope whoever bought it makes a lot of charitable donations.
These are just expensive junk...
This reminds me an old time.... :) Would love to get some of these, but I do not have the budget for :D
Good thing we have the internet so we can always look at pictures... those are free. For now.
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