Julien's Auctions held on Sunday, February 5 its headline making MusiCares Charity Relief Auction an official 65th Grammy week event, featuring nearly fifty iconic items including signed and performance played instruments, wardrobe, handwritten lyrics, records, and more from some of music’s biggest stars and legends of all time, in front of a live audience at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills with hundreds of bidders and collectors from around the world participating online at julienslive.com.
All proceeds from the sale of items offered by legends including Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Robert Plant, Elton John, Snoop Dogg and Cordell Broadus, Eminem, Fleetwood Mac, Sting, Joe Perry, Shaggy, Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, Lenny Kravitz, Slipknot, Cher, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, The Who and more will benefit MusiCares, the leading music industry charity, that offers preventive, emergency, and recovery programs supporting the health and welfare of the music community.
The event’s top selling item was a pair of white Nike Air Max sneakers owned, worn and signed “Shady” by Eminem that sold for an astounding $40,625, twenty times its original estimate of $2,000. The sneakers were sold to the up-and-coming socially conscious rapper Margaritavillain whose fans created a GoFundMe page that helped him to successfully bid and win the shoes and therefore literally walk in the rap icon and producer’s footsteps.
Another exciting highlight was a copy of the 2021 book of the year, The Lyrics: 1965 to Present, signed by Paul McCartney which will be personalized to the winning bidder. The Beatle legend’s landmark book which includes McCartney's commentary, never-before-seen photos, handwritten notes, art and ephemera, all of which are part of his personal collection, sold for $25,600, a staggering twenty-five times its original estimate of $1,000.
Other notable guitars sold today for impressive amounts included a 2022 Joe Perry Signature Gibson Les Paul electric guitar stage-played with Aerosmith in Las Vegas and signed by Perry above the guitar legend’s hallmark Aerosmith doodle of two wings enclosing the letter "A” that sold for $25,000, six times its original estimate; a 2021 Slash Signature Gibson Les Paul electric guitar in an anaconda burst finish, signed by Slash featuring the rocker’s hallmark skull and crossbones doodle that brought $22,400, eleven times its original estimate; Don Felder 2010 Gibson Les Paul “Hotel California” aged 1959 reissue electric guitar created in the image of Felder's 1959 Les Paul, which he used on the majority of the solos on the Eagles' iconic 1976 studio album, Hotel California accompanied by sheet music of the song “Hotel California” signed by Felder that sold for $19,200; and a Fleetwood Mac band-signed Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar signed by all five members of the legendary line-up, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, when they were honored in 2018 as “MusiCares Person of the Year” that sold for $19,200.
Additional highlights included (winning bids with buyer’s premium):
- Rolling Stones signed 2022 “Sixty” 60th Anniversary European tour poster ($16,000, sixteen times its original estimate of $1,000)
- Lenny Kravitz signed black Gibson Custom Shop Flying V electric guitar ($10,240)
- David Lee Roth original painting titled “Dark Ocean” ($10,240);
- Joni Mitchell original print of Jimi Hendrix, signed by Mitchell ($10,240);
- Joni Mitchell signed 2021 Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar ($10,240);
- Bob Dylan gifted 2014 black Epiphone acoustic guitar for the MusiCares Person of the Year in 2015, signed by John Mellencamp, John Doe, Tom Jones, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Aaron Neville, Bruce Springsteen, Alanis Morissette, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones, Jack White and Jackson Browne ($12,800)
- Robert Plant signed Gretsch George Harrison Duo Jet GH6128T ($16,000)
- Ozzy Osbourne owned and signed Gibson SG Electric Guitar ($19,200)
“Each year we look forward to partnering with MusiCares on our annual charity relief auction to raise funds for the music community," said Martin Nolan, Executive Director of Julien’s Auctions. “This year’s edition was one of our best and most successful auctions to date featuring an array of history in the making music collectibles such as Eminem’s signature Nike sneakers, Paul McCartney’s signed landmark book The Lyrics: 1965 to Present and guitars signed by the likes of Taylor Swift, Slash, Joe Perry and Harry Styles, as well as Snoop Dogg and Cordell Broadus' XOUNTS sound systems with a sensational NFT that launched this year’s event further out into the exciting Web3 space.”
