A piano used by John Lennon to write songs for Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has sold for $3.247 million (€2.81 million) at auction in New York, leading a record-breaking Beatles haul at auction in New York.
The Broadwood upright, which Christie’s said Lennon used while writing Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, A Day in the Life and Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!, far exceeded its pre-sale estimate of $400,000 to $600,000 (€346,000 to €520,000).
It was sold as part of The Jim Irsay Collection: Hall of Fame, a sale of music, film and sports memorabilia held at Christie’s New York on Thursday.
According to the auction house, the sale made the instrument the most expensive Beatles-related item sold at auction.
Other memorabilia linked to the band also drew huge interest.
Ringo Starr’s first Ludwig drum kit, which was used in live performances and studio sessions during the group’s early years from May 1963 to February 1964, sold for $2,393,000 (€2.07 million).
That was followed by the sale of a drum head from Starr’s second Ludwig kit, used during The Beatles’ first trip to America when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. It fetched $2,881,000 (€2.5 million), setting a new record for the most expensive item associated with Starr to be sold.
The auction also included a number of other Beatles-related lots, including photographs, handwritten letters and signed postcards from Lennon, as well as an affidavit filed by Paul McCartney to dissolve the band’s legal partnership.
Christie’s Americas president Julien Pradels said: "Lot after lot, we felt like we were making history.
"The Irsay sale did justice to the brilliance of the collector, and of the monumental pieces he brought together, iconic objects that tell the story of our culture and our times.
"The Irsay collection is singular, but Christie’s will have other amazing sales in this space moving forward."
Lennon was killed in 1980 at the age of 40. More than 50 years on from the release of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the album remains one of the most celebrated records in The Beatles’ catalogue.
Source: Press Association
