Sothebys is getting into the pop-culture memorabilia with its inaugural “Popular Culture” online bidding from August 29 to September 12. Headlining the event is a Vox HDC-77 semi-hollow electric guitar played by the late music icon Prince.
The “blackburst” is estimated to fetch $383,000 ( £200,000 – £300,000) during the auction. Prince “extensively stage-played” it during his legendary “HitNRun” tour across the UK, US, and Canada in 2014 and 2015. He performed with his 3rdeyegirl bandmates Donna Grantis (guitar), Ida Nielsen (bass), and Hannah Welton (drums).
He busted it out during a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, as well as in the U.K. at London’s KOKO Club, the Electric Ballroom, and Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Prince also played it in venues across the U.S. and Canada, including at the Baltimore “Rally 4 Peace” on May 10, 2015.
It “hasn’t been played since Prince last performed with it.” His last documented use of the Vox HDC-77 was during a performance for former U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in June 2015. According to Sothebys, Grantis brought the guitar to the auction house directly from her private collection.
Introduced in 2010, the instrument features a distinctive contoured body. It also has a three-position switch that allows its CoAxe pickups to produce single-coil, P-90, or humbucker tones.
Sothebys’ “Popular Culture” event aims to bring together iconic memorabilia from the entertainment, film, and music worlds. Joining the Vox HDC-77 are a trio of guitars used by Oasis lead singer Noel Gallagher. These are the Epiphone Les Paul Standard featured in the “Supersonic” music video, a 1980 Gibson Flying V used in the recording of “Cigarettes & Alcohol,” and an Epiphone EA-250 that Gallagher played onstage.
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Images courtesy of Sothebys
