David Gilmour, the legendary lead guitarist of Pink Floyd, that most cosmically-inclined of British rock bands, has played stunning solos on some of the world’s bestselling albums – most notably The Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon.
When news broke out, then, that he intended to auction off his personal guitar collection, it was no surprise that music memorabilia aficionados the world over went into something of a meltdown. Nor was it a huge shock that the collection raised the undeniably grand figure of US$21 million when Christie’s New York brought the gavel down on the final lot, the proceeds of which have been earmarked for Gilmour’s charitable foundation.
By far the star performer of the day was a 1969 Black Fender Stratocaster – also known as the Black Strat – which went for a stunning US$3.975 million, exceeding its pre-sale estimate of US$150,000 by some 2,650 percent. It has to be said, though, that the initial valuation was somewhat conservative, seeing as this was the very instrument that gave the world some of the most memorable Pink Floyd tracks, including Money, Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Comfortably Numb.