From a guitar dubbed 'the physical manifestation of the breakup of Oasis' to clothing once worn by some of the biggest names in music, read on to discover some of the world’s most extraordinary pieces of music memorabilia.

All dollar values in US dollars, and pre-2022 figures adjusted for inflation.

In 2022, a guitar that's been described as "the physical manifestation of the break up" of British band Oasis sold for £326,909 ($405k) at auction in Paris.

Played by Noel Gallagher, the instrument was smashed up in 2009 during a row between Noel and his brother Liam. The damaged guitar, which was carefully restored before the sale, was bought by an anonymous European buyer. 

Estimates for the auction price of Jimi Hendrix’s legendary guitar from the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival floated from the hundreds of thousands right up to a cool million. The torched instrument eventually sold for £237,000 in 2012. That's around £335,000 ($434k) when inflation-adjusted.

Hendrix planned on smashing the guitar while performing Wild Thing, but The Who's Pete Townshend had already used the move earlier in the night. Wanting to pull a unique stunt, Hendrix doused his guitar in lighter fluid and flicked a match at it instead.

A silver glove owned by the King of Pop hit the auction block in 2009, fetching an impressive $350,000 ($520k/£402k today). Pre-sale estimates valued the accessory at $50,000, but the highest bidder – Hong Kong businessman Hoffman Ma – paid seven times that amount, plus commission.

The glove featured in a sale held at the Hard Rock Café in New York’s Times Square just a couple of months after the pop legend passed away.

In 2021, a bass guitar belonging to Paul McCartney broke records when it sold at auction for $496,100 ($584k/£451k today). McCartney played the Yamaha BB-1200 in the band Wings (he's pictured here on stage with it in 1979).

The iconic instrument was one of the biggest money-makers in the auction, which was organised by record producer Bob Ezrin and U2's The Edge to raise funds for the charity Music Rising.

Experts were shocked when Prince’s iconic 'Blue Angel' guitar went up for auction, as it had long been considered lost. Auction house Julien’s Auctions didn’t know what it was handling when it initially listed it as a “custom-made 1984 blue Cloud guitar used by Prince”, but it wasn’t long before it was recognised as the most significant Prince-related memorabilia the world had ever seen.

As a result, the hammer came down at $563,000 when it sold in 2020. That's an incredible $694,000 (£536k) in 2025 money.

In 2021, the electric guitar Elvis Presley played on his 1968 TV special, which acted as the King of Rock 'n' Roll's comeback performance (pictured), sold at auction for $625,000 ($736k/£559k today). Elvis borrowed the red Hagstrom Viking II electric guitar from his session musician Al Casey. He went on to play it at a live performance in Las Vegas the following year. It also featured on the cover of his 1969 album From Elvis in Memphis.

The guitar was never owned by Elvis, and was eventually returned to Casey, who sold it to a collector. The electric guitar had not been seen in public for 52 years before it went up for auction.

Eric Clapton's 1968 Martin D-45 acoustic guitar sold for $625,000 ($736k/£559k today) at auction in 2021. The British musician played the instrument during his stage debut with blues-rock band Derek and the Dominos in 1970.

The guitar came complete with its original case, a signed letter of provenance, and an assortment of albums. 

Anything associated with Britain’s best-known band is a sure-fire money spinner, and this guitar, played by both George Harrison and John Lennon, is no exception. The instrument is a Gibson SG and was favoured by Harrison between 1966 and 1969.

Lennon also used the guitar when the band was recording music for the White Album, which contributed to its $567,500 sale price in 2004. In 2025 money, it fetched an impressive $959,000 (£741k).

Ringo Starr claimed The Beatles’ first-ever copy of the White Album, numbered 0000001. Harrison, Lennon, and McCartney owned the next three. The album was sold in 2015 when Starr auctioned off a collection of his possessions.

Bidding for the mono copy of the album maxed out at $790,000 ($1m/£760k today). A portion of the proceeds went to The Lotus Foundation, a charity founded by the drummer and his wife, Barbara Bach.

When it comes to The Beatles, it doesn’t need to be an entire album to be valuable. Song lyrics alone can fetch unbelievable prices.

A handwritten copy of the number one hit Hey Jude, hastily scribbled out by Paul McCartney in 1968, fetched $910,000 in 2020. That's a staggering $1.1 million (£840k) when inflation-adjusted. 

Bob Dylan’s sunburst Fender Stratocaster guitar hit the auction block in 2013. It was iconic to fans, who would have recognised the guitar from the legend's performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 (pictured). Christie’s auction house estimated that the instrument would sell for around $400,000, but a bidding war drove the price up to $965,000 ($1.3m/£1m today).

Before going up for auction, the guitar had spent half a century in the possession of a pilot’s family. Cabin crew had found it abandoned on a private plane used by Dylan, and, after receiving no response from management about returning it, the pilot kept it.

George Harrison's Futurama guitar went under the hammer in 2024, fetching nearly $1.3 million (£1m) and setting a record as the most expensive Harrison guitar ever sold at auction.

The instrument was one of two guitars he used most frequently during his time with The Beatles. Harrison played it in over 324 performances and also used it on their first official recordings.

Eric Clapton's 1968 Martin D-45 isn't the only guitar belonging to the music star to fetch a fortune at auction. Clapton relied on his black Fender Stratocaster for 15 years of his illustrious rock and blues career. It was last seen by the public in 1990 when it played a starring role in a Honda Japan advert, and then it made a special appearance for one song at a Royal Albert Hall performance in London in 1991.

The guitar went up for sale through Christie’s auction house in 2004, where its unique history helped it to realise a sale price of $959,500 ($1.6m/£1.2m today). 

You can’t be a rock star without a slick car to complete the look, and Keith Richards’ vehicle of choice was this 1965 Bentley S3 Continental Flying Spur, known as the 'Blue Lena'. Richards named the vehicle after his favourite American singer, Lena Horne. He sold the car in 1978, following several accidents.

Following five years of restorations, 'Blue Lena' was back in tip-top condition, ready for auction in 2010. A Rolling Stones fan snapped her up for a cool £763,100 (£1.2m/$1.6m today).

Back to The Beatles, with another Ringo-related piece bringing in the big money. This hand-painted drum skin was advertised as “the world’s most famous drum skin” by auction house Christie’s. Its artwork can be found on every copy of the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The one-of-a-kind skin sold for $1.1 million in 2008, or $1.6 (£1.2m) today.

This instrument comes with a heart-wrenching back story, as it was the violin used to calm passengers of the Titanic as the ship sank back in 1912. Its player, Wallace Hartley, died along with 1,517 other passengers, but remarkably the violin survived.

The slice of Titanic history went up for auction in 2013, fetching an eye-watering £900,000 (£1.2m/$1.6m today).

The guitars of legends make up much of the music world’s priciest memorabilia, and you can’t get more iconic than the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley. Auctioned off in August 2020, Elvis’ 1942 Martin D-18 guitar broke records when it fetched an incredible $1.3 million ($1.6/£1.2m today).

The King bought the instrument in 1954 in Memphis and used it on such classic hits such as That’s All Right and Blue Moon of Kentucky.

Time for more song lyrics by The Beatles. A set for A Day in the Life fetched $1.2 million in 2010. In 2025 money, that's an impressive $1.8 million (£1.4m).

The band’s road manager Malcolm Evans had owned the manuscript before taking it to auction, and it was matted, framed, and double-glazed to ensure it stayed in good shape.

RCA Records represents some of today’s best-known artists, but Elvis Presley was arguably the biggest name on its books. The record label gifted Presley this Omega watch when he hit the milestone of 75 million record sales.

The watch broke records when it sold for 1.8 million Swiss francs in 2018. In today's money that's around 2 million Swiss francs or $2.3 million (£1.8m).

A ride favoured by the wealthy, Porsches aren’t known for being a budget buy – especially when they’ve been owned by rock royalty.

Janis Joplin hand-painted this car herself, embellishing it with birds, butterflies, skulls and mushrooms, making it a true one-off. It's no surprise that her psychedelic Porsche fetched almost $1.8 million ($2.4m/£1.8m today) in 2015, more than any other car of its make. 

Charities often benefit from the sale of big-ticket music memorabilia, and Jerry Garcia’s guitar 'Wolf' raised millions for the American civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center. The guitar got its name after the Grateful Dead frontman attached a wolf sticker as a joke, and he later got a permanent wolf motif added to the instrument.

In 2017, more than two decades after Garcia’s death, 'Wolf' fetched $1.9 million at auction. That's an impressive $2.5 million (£1.9m) in 2025 money.

Michael Jackson’s black and red jacket thrilled fans when it went up for auction in 2011. The jacket was one of two worn by the King of Pop in his iconic Thriller music video.

This autographed version fetched $1.8 million, or $2.6 million (£2m) when inflation-adjusted. The buyer was Milton Verret, a gold trader from Texas who planned on using the jacket to raise money for charity.

Bob Dylan’s handwritten lyrics for Like A Rolling Stone smashed records in 2014 when they sold at auction for $2 million ($2.7m/£2.1m today). 

The manuscript was an annotated copy of the hit song and snapped up by an anonymous buyer.

The album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was a unique concept created by the Wu-Tang Clan, with only a single copy ever made and auctioned to the highest bidder. The winner had the exclusive right to listen to its 31 tracks, if they so chose.

Controversially, the album was purchased in 2016 for $2 million ($2.7/£2.1m today) by Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceutical executive infamous for drastically increasing the price of Daraprim, a drug used to treat AIDS. However, the US authorities later seized the album after Shkreli was investigated for fraud and sentenced to seven years in prison. 

This drum kit was played by Ringo Starr in more than 200 performances in 1963 and 1964, as well as when recording some of The Beatles’ earliest hits.

The Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl kit was bought by a mystery owner of an unspecified American NFL team for $2.2 million in 2015. In 2025 money, the kit fetched a whopping $3 million (£2.3m).

The guitar used by John Lennon on the band’s debut single, Love Me Do, went up for auction in 2015. The long-lost Gibson K-160E surfaced at Julien’s Auctions and fetched an incredible $2.4 million ($3.2m/£2.4m today). It was snapped up by an anonymous buyer.

Lennon first bought the guitar back in 1962 from Rushworth’s Music House in Liverpool, England, for £161. That's around £3,000 ($4k) in 2025 money.

The piano John Lennon used to write Imagine was bought in 2001 for $2.2 million, or a whopping $4 million (£3m) today. The winning bidder was pop sensation George Michael who purchased it to prevent it from going into storage, as he thought it deserved to be seen by the public.

The Wham! frontman had hoped to incorporate the instrument into some of his own songs before ensuring it was safely delivered to The Beatles Story exhibition in Liverpool, England.

While it hasn’t publicly been played by any legends of the music world, a charity Fender Stratocaster bearing the signatures of the biggest names in rock, including Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards, still fetched a huge price at auction in 2006.

The stars came together to sign this guitar in aid of the charity Reach Out to Asia. The instrument sold for $2.8 million ($4.4m/£3.4m today) to Her Highness Sheihka Miyyassah Al Thani (pictured), the 14th daughter of the Qatar royal family.

In May 2022, the guitar played by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain in the Smells Like Teen Spirit music video sold for $4.5 million (£3.5m).

Part of an auction held at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York, the left-handed guitar was bought by Jim Irsay, CEO of the NFL team Indianapolis Colts. A percentage of the money he spent will be donated to a mental health charity, a fact Irsay said "makes this acquisition even more special to me." Cobain once described the iconic guitar as his favourite "out of all the guitars in the whole world".

The Olympic Games is the world’s greatest stage for the sporting elite. Over two billion people, or nearly a third of the world's population, watched the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games in 2008.

It's therefore unsurprising that mementos from that night have become sought-after and lucrative. The crystal piano with which classical musician Lang Lang serenaded the crowd sold for 22 million Chinese yuan in 2009, the equivalent of $3.2 million. In today's money, that's an impressive $4.8 million (£3.7m).

Another set of guitars made millions for charity in 2019 when Pink Floyd's David Gilmour decided to sell off his entire collection. In total, the auction raised a staggering $21.5 million ($27m/£21m) to go towards climate change charities.

The star of the show was his 'Black Strat', which fetched almost $4 million ($5m/£3.8m today). The guitar featured on Pink Floyd songs such as Comfortably Numb and Money, as well as albums from Gilmour’s solo career. 

It isn’t just John Lennon’s instruments that fans are desperate to acquire. In 1985, the musician’s Rolls-Royce car was auctioned off for $2.3 million, or an eye-watering $6.8 million (£5.1m) when inflation-adjusted.

The yellow Phantom V was bought by Canadian business magnate Jim Pattison, who wanted to feature the vehicle at the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication in Vancouver. Lennon and Yoko Ono had donated the car to the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York to be used as a fundraising aid.

Personal possessions can easily be worth millions when associated with the right rock stars, but none are worth quite as much as the guitar played by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s legendary MTV Unplugged performance. The instrument became the most expensive guitar ever sold, selling for an incredible $6 million in June 2020, or $7.4 million (£5.7m) when inflation-adjusted.

Unlike most high-end bidders, the new owner of the iconic guitar was happy to be identified as Peter Freedman of RØDE Microphones. The Australian music entrepreneur plans to exhibit the guitar across the world, with all proceeds going towards the performing arts.

Dipping back into the classical world, Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony score became the most expensive piece of written music ever sold when the hammer came down at £4.5 million ($5.9m) at a Sotheby’s auction in 2016. In today's money, it fetched £6 million ($7.8m).

The handwritten score is made up of 232 pages, and four telephone bidders battled it out to own the Mahler masterpiece, which dates back to 1817.

In 2001, this life-sized statue of Michael Jackson and his pet chimp Bubbles sold for $5.6 million through auction house Sotheby’s. That's the equivalent of $10.1 million (£7.8m) in 2025 money.

The figure was created by artist Jeff Koons. 

Now discover the 25 richest music stars in 2025