John Lennon’s Help! and Rubber Sou Guitar Sells for $2.9 Million

John Lennon’s 12-string Framus Hootenanny acoustic guitar recently sold for $2,857,500 million at auction. Lennon, along with George Harrison, had used the guitar to record such Beatles albums as Help! and Rubber Soul.

According to Julien’s Auctions, the auction house that oversaw the sale, the guitar had been lost for 50 years before unexpectedly turning up in the attic of a British home. Lennon had reportedly given the guitar to Gordon Waller, of Peter & Gordon, in 1965. Waller then passed it on to one of his road managers, who subsequently returned home to throw the instrument in the attic of his countryside home, where it remained for half a century. (Because, who needs John Lennon’s guitar, right??)

Eventually, an English man discovered Lennon’s long lost Hootenanny when he was helping his parents move. It was still housed within its original guitar case. After contacting Julien’s Auctions, the guitar was examined and authenticated by Beatles historians Andy Babiuk and Danny Bennett.

Selling for $2,857,500 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, New York City, it now stands as the fifth most expensive guitar ever sold and, notably, the most expensive Beatles instrument ever sold at auction. Remarkably, the initial estimate range was set at $600,000 to $800,000.

The instrument can be heard in action on songs like “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” “It’s Only Love,” “Help!,” “Girl,” and “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown).” You can also see Lennon playing it in the film Help! during the “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” sequence.

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