When music struck a multimillion dollar chord

Rock history struck a record-breaking chord in New York this week when David Gilmour’s legendary ‘Black Strat’ sold for $14.55 million at Christie’s during The Jim Irsay Collection: Icons of Popular Culture auction. The sale made it the most expensive guitar ever sold, surpassing the $6 million paid in 2020 for the 1959 Martin D-18E acoustic guitar used by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s iconic MTV Unplugged performance.

The guitar behind Pink Floyd’s biggest sounds
Gilmour’s Fender ‘Black Strat’ is no ordinary instrument. It helped shape the sound of Pink Floyd’s most celebrated albums — The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979). The guitar featured in recordings of classics like Money, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, and the unforgettable solo in Comfortably Numb. Before the auction, it was estimated to sell for $2–$4 million, making the final price all the more remarkable. Reflecting on selling the guitar earlier for charity, Gilmour told Rolling Stone, “These guitars have been very good to me. They’re my friends. They have given me lots of music. I just think it’s time that they went off and served someone else.”

Gilmour on letting go of a legend
Reflecting on parting with the famous Black Strat, David Gilmour remained philosophical. “For me, I can let go of it. It’s going to bring a lot of people to have a look at this sale, and it’s going to do that job,” he said. “It’s a lovely guitar… it’s on so much stuff, but Fender have made replica ones that they sell, and I have two or three of those that are absolutely perfect.” He even joked, “One of those might be my future guitar of choice or even, horror of horror, maybe I’ll even change
the colour.”


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