Hundreds of pieces of iconic rock n’ roll artifacts will go under the hammer representing the biggest musical icons of our time. The historical event will include extraordinary items from those artists who have played important roles in shaping our pop culture.

 

Highlights include an electric guitar given to Stevie Ray Vaughan by his brother Jimmie. Stevie made his first studio and live recording with this guitar, named “Jimbo,” before regrettably trading it away. Also included is Lady Gaga’s first piano on which she wrote her first song when she was just five years old. The piano was previously on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as part of the Women Who Rock exhibition. In 1967 David Bowie received his first American fan letter and immediately typed a response and sent it with images and a British newspaper that had him on the cover. The letter is sweet, appreciative and optimistic. It is signed by Bowie with the Starman’s star over the “i” in Bowie, in place of a dot.

 

Other extraordinary highlights will include a letter handwritten by Kurt Cobain to David Geffen about the possibility of ending Nirvana due to the terrible treatment he and his wife, Courtney Love, received in a 1992 Vanity Fair article accusing the pair of using drugs while Love was pregnant with their daughter. The handwritten two-page letter reads in part, “I’m so extremely pissed off about this piece of trash journalism that I’ll lay anything on the line for the love of my wife and daughter.”

 

Also included in the extensive auction is Ringo Starr’s drumkit that he used in a 2000 Super Bowl commercial for Charles Schwab. The Ludwig drumkit was later given by Starr to a business associate and is accompanied by a signed drum head and a pair of Ringo Starr branded Pro-Market drum sticks, one of which is signed “Ringo.”

 

The Music Icons auction will also include over 85 items from the life and career of Elvis Presley. This collection includes a custom guitar made for him by his father that Presley gave to an audience member in 1975. This rare 1969 Gibson Dove guitar was custom finished in black with a Kenpo Karate decal affixed to the body showing that this was in honor of Presley achieving a black belt in karate. The guitar was personalized with “Elvis Presley” inlaid across the fingerboard and is one of Presley’s most recognizable instruments. This prized guitar has remained in the hands of the lucky concert goer since 1975.

 

Hundreds of other items will be offered at the Julien’s Auctions Music Icons event including memorabilia from The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra and many more. The Music Icons event has become one of the most highly anticipated auctions offered by Julien’s Auctions annually, bringing together bidders, collectors and fans from every point in the world while making musical history.