The highest bidder at David Gilmour’s record-setting June 20 guitar auction at Christie’s in New York has been revealed.
Rolling Stone reports Jim Irsay, lifelong Pink Floyd fan and billionaire owner of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, was the man responsible for spending a record-breaking $3,975,000 on Gilmour’s famed “Black Strat,” the Floyd frontman’s instrument of choice on the band’s iconic Seventies classics.
“I just love Pink Floyd, man, I cannot deny it,” says Irsay. “I think [Roger] Waters’ lyrics and Gilmour’s playing and their whole story and prominence is just so profound that I cannot say enough about my excitement for this. … David Gilmour stands by himself.”
Placing his bids through a proxy, Irsay picked up another Gilmour artifact just prior to snagging the Black Strat, dropping $175,000 on the Pink Floyd–branded flight case that housed the guitar for decades.
“If I don’t get the guitar, I’ll look like a jackass,” laughs the collector, who also owns axes originally played by Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Bob Dylan and Prince, among others. “But I love Strats, and this is the Strat. This is the one that was the signature guitar for those incredible Floyd leads.”
The Christie’s event also saw Irsay add a third Gilmour piece to his collection when he bid $1,095,000 for the 1969 Martin D-35 Gilmour used to record “Wish You Were Here.”
In total, the Floyd fan spent $5,245,000 on the three items, nearly 25 percent of the $21.5 million total the auction raised for Gilmour’s charity of choice, ClientEarth, which fights climate change.
The auction of more than 120 guitars from Gilmour’s personal collection attracted interest by 2,000 bidders from 66 countries.
Among the highlights were Gilmour’s 1954 White Fender Stratocaster #0001 used on several recordings, including “Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)”, which sold for $1,815,000; a 1955 Gibson Les Paul, also famous for the solo on “Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)”, sold for $447,000, a new auction record for a Gibson Les Paul; and, a rare Gretsch White Penguin 6134 purchased by David in 1980 went for $447,000 – a new auction record for a Gretsch.
See also:
Pink Floyd: David Gilmour guitar collection sets world records at auction
Pink Floyd: David Gilmour streams final episode in guitar auction podcast series
VIDEO: Pink Floyd stream 1969 performance of Careful With That Axe, Eugene
Pink Floyd: David Gilmour streams second episode in guitar auction podcast series
Search Pink Floyd at hennemusic
