David Gilmour's collection of 126 guitars was auctioned off at Christie's in New York yesterday, achieving a total sale of £16,935,185 – the most valuable musical instruments sale in auction history. The prize lot was Gilmour's 1969 Black Fender Stratocaster – 'The Black Strat' – integral t...
David Gilmour’s collection of 126 guitars was auctioned off at Christie’s in New York yesterday, achieving a total sale of £16,935,185 – the most valuable musical instruments sale in auction history.
The prize lot was Gilmour’s 1969 Black Fender Stratocaster – ‘The Black Strat’ – integral to the recording of many Pink Floyd albums, including The Wall and Wish You Were Here. It sold for $3,975,000, setting a world auction record for a guitar.
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Gilmour donated the proceeds from the auction to climate crisis charity ClientEarth. “The global climate crisis is the greatest challenge that humanity will ever face, and we are within a few years of the effects of global warming being irreversible,” he said in a statement “As Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist said in a speech earlier this year, ‘Either we choose to go on as a civilisation, or we don’t’. The choice really is that simple, and I hope that the sale of these guitars will help ClientEarth in their cause to use the law to bring about real change. We need a civilised world that goes on for all our grandchildren and beyond in which these guitars can be played and songs can be sung.”
Gilmour’s Martin D-35, played on “Wish You Were Here” and “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” sold for $1,095,000. A 1954 White Fender Stratocaster used on “Another Brick in the Wall (Parts 2 and 3)”, sold for $1,815,000. A 1955 Gibson Les Paul, famous for Gilmour’s guitar solo on “Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)” sold for $447,000, a new auction record for a Gibson Les Paul, while a rare Gretsch White Penguin 6134 purchased by Gilmour in 1980 for his private collection, also realized $447,000 — a new auction record for a Gretsch.