Legendary guitars, iconic glasses and handwritten lyrics from a few of the greatest names in music are going beneath the hammer at a London public sale this week.
Taking heart stage is Noel Gallagher’s cherry-red Gibson guitar, broken by his brother Liam throughout a backstage brawl the night time Oasis broke up on the peak of their fame in 2009.
Reflecting on the row, Noel later instructed reporters in 2011 {that a} livid Liam had stormed into the dressing room with the guitar, which he was “wielding like an axe”.
“It’s historic. If you’re an Oasis fan, you look at that guitar and you immediately know what it is,” music specialist Mark Hochman instructed AFP at memorabilia specialist Propstore’s public sale preview.
“It caused the break-up of the band. Liam smashed it. Noel got in a taxi, and that was it for 16 years,” he added.
In 2022, the repaired Gibson was bought for 385,000 euros ($445,000) at an public sale in Paris.
But with the British supergroup now in the course of a record-breaking comeback tour, the instrument is at the moment anticipated to fetch as much as £500,000 ($668,300).
Noel’s Takamine acoustic guitar, used to file the hit tune “Wonderwall”, can even go on the public sale block throughout the sale on Thursday and Friday.
“If you ask anybody, name me an Oasis song… they’re going to say Wonderwall… I think it was the first song from the 90s to reach a billion streams,” mentioned music specialist Richie Moores, who has been accumulating Noel’s guitars for 20 years.
The guitars are a part of the most important assortment of Oasis memorabilia ever to return to public sale, value over £1 million.
With curiosity in them “growing and growing and growing”, Hochman believes Oasis will change into “one of the most collectable bands” in the long run.
From the broader sale, a pair of glasses worn by John Lennon throughout his notorious “Lost Weekend” interval over 18 months in Los Angeles within the early Seventies is anticipated to promote for as a lot as £300,000.
The round, orange-tinted glasses are some of the recognisable private objects ever owned by the Beatles star.
“These particular glasses are the most historic and provenanced of any John Lennon glasses to come to market, and that’s what makes them so valuable,” mentioned Hochman.
Michael Jackson’s white fedora from the 1988 “Smooth Criminal” video can also be up for public sale, valued between £40,000 and £80,000.
Collectors will have the ability to snap up Elvis Presley’s basic “Grand Prix” sun shades, a signature accent that turned synonymous with the king’s later profession.
Memorabilia from David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and different music legends can even be on provide, with the public sale estimated to have a mixed worth of greater than £3 million.
“We all remember the first groups we saw… I think we all remember the first records we bought,” Hochman mentioned. “It takes you back to a happier time, and I think people need that.”
© 2025 AFP