Julien’s Auctions, the industry-leading music memorabilia auction house, announced today from Hard Rock Cafe in Piccadilly Circus that one of the most historically important Beatles guitars in rock history - John Lennon’s long-lost Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar, used in the recording of The Beatles’ Help! album and film and many of the Fab Four’s other seminal hits from the 1960s - will headline Julien’s Auctions’ blockbuster Music Icons two-day auction event taking place Wednesday, May 29, and Thursday, May 30 live at Hard Rock Cafe in New York and online at juliensauctions.com.
This extraordinary guitar, long forgotten and believed to have been lost, was recently found in an attic in the UK after being unseen for over 50 years. Considered the most important Beatles guitar ever to come to market, it is expected to exceed its estimate of $600,000 - $800,000 USD £485,000 - £647,000 GBP and set a new world record for the highest-selling Beatles guitar.
The Beatles’ arsenal of guitars and instruments would become as legendary and celebrated as their music, from their earliest recordings to the 1960s height of Beatlemania, when this Framus 12-string acoustic guitar would first appear. It was famously seen in the Beatles’ Help! film, notably in in the memorable scene where they perform “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” and other scenes, as well as numerous photographs taken by Beatles Monthly (Beatles fan club magazine) publisher Sean O’Mahoney, who had full access to the Beatles during their 1965 Help! recording sessions, where the guitar can be heard on “Help!” “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”, “It’s Only Love” and “I’ve Just Seen A Face” and more. The Framus Hootenanny 12-string can also be heard on the The Beatles’ recording of “Girl” during the Rubber Soul sessions and on the rhythm track for "Norwegian Wood" played by George Harrison.
By the mid to late 60s, the famous Framus was in the possession of Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon, who later gave the Hootenanny 12-string guitar to their road managers. It was recently discovered in an attic in the rural British countryside where it had lain forgotten and unplayed for over 50 years. The homeowners found the guitar in the midst of their move and contacted Julien’s Auctions. Executive Directors and Founders, Darren Julien and Martin Nolan, traveled to the UK and immediately recognized that this was indeed the storied Help! guitar. While on the premises, they also discovered the Framus’ original guitar case - a Maton Australian-made guitar case (photo below) that can also be seen in photos taken of the Beatles in 1965 - in the trash and rescued it. The sale of the guitar is accompanied by the case and book (photo right) The Beatles: Photographs From The Set of Help with images by Emilo Lari.
“The discovery of John Lennon’s Help! guitar that was believed to be lost is considered the greatest find of a Beatles guitar since Paul McCartney’s lost 1961 Höfner bass guitar,” said Darren Julien, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Julien’s Auctions. “Finding this remarkable instrument is like finding a lost Rembrandt or Picasso, and it still looks and plays like a dream after having been preserved in an attic for more than 50 years. To awaken this sleeping beauty is a sacred honor and is a great moment for Music, Julien’s, Beatles and Auction history.”
The industry’s leading rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia auction house has broken world records with the sale of Beatles memorabilia, including a previous John Lennon acoustic guitar, which sold for a record $2.4 million, Ringo Starr’s Ludwig drum kit, which sold for a record $2.2 million, The Ludwig Beatles Ed Sullivan Show drumhead, which sold for a record price of $2.1 million, and The Beatles White Album, owned by Ringo Starr, that sold for $790,000.
Additionally, Julien’s announced today their first lineup of exceptional highlights and collections, that will include some of the world’s greatest stage-played guitars, instruments, wardrobe and memorabilia that have made pop culture history. Over 1,000 rock relics owned and used by the likes of AC/DC, Adam Clayton, Amy Winehouse, Joan Jett, Michael Jackson, Motley Crue, Nirvana, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Guns N' Roses, The Grateful Dead, Judas Priest, Heart, Queen, Tina Turner, Tupac Shakur and many more still to be announced, will be offered at their marquee event Music Icons.
Music Icons’ charity initiatives will be part of the event in the sale of several iconic items offered by The King's Trust. A constellation of star items such as Chet Atkins’ guitar donated by Mark Knopfler; Helen Mirren’s dress designed by Stella McCartney worn to the premiere of The Queen in NYC circa 2006; two signed Barbra Streisand record albums Guilty and The Broadway Album; Phil Collins’ jacket by Armani, stage-worn at the Phil Collins Not Dead Yet tour 2017-2019; items from Ringo Starr such as a Peace Hand Statuette with added drumsticks and signed Beats & Threads hardcover book; Elton John’s Gucci jacket; Al Pacino signed script and clapper board from The Merchant of Venice; Sting’s signed bass guitar; Emma Bunton (of The Spice Girls) signed stage-worn high heels and color snapshot; artwork created and signed by Pierce Brosnan; a suit worn by Rod Stewart; Lewis Hamilton signed miniature collectible racing helmet and more.
Items to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust, a cancer care and support charity in the UK that exists to improve the cancer experience of young people aged 13–24, were additionaly announced, including several items from The Who, such as a Roger Daltry signed T-shirt, Tommy poster signed by Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and Friends poster from the 2023 shows signed by Roger Daltrey, a Mick Hutson signed stamped glossy black and white print of The Who, as well as a Mick Hutson stamped glossy black and white print of Van Morrison on stage, hand signed by Mick and Van Morrison, a signed Wet Leg drumhead, Sam Smith photographic print and a Remo Drum skin and drum sticks signed by Iron Maiden's Nicko McBrain, Poppys Meat-Cuts print out poster signed by Taron Egerton and more.
Today’s announcement joins the previously announced auction of rock legend Randy Bachman’s collection of over 200 museum quality guitars used on classic rock’s greatest hits “These Eyes,” “Takin' Care of Business,” “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,” and “American Woman.”
An exhibition of these highlights will be on display in the window of Hard Rock Cafe Piccadilly Circus in London from Tuesday, April 23 to Monday, April 29 and will travel for an exhibition in New York taking place Wednesday, May 22 to Tuesday, May 28 at Hard Rock® Cafe New York before its auction.
For complete details, visit juliensauctions.com.
(Top photo of John Lennon with the guitar and Ringo Starr from the book The Beatles: Photographs From The Set of Help which will be accompanied in the auction of the guitar)
