George Harrison: guitar sold for over $1 million

A guitar purchased by George Harrison in the late 1950s and played during the Beatles’ early days has sold at auction for more than $1 million.

The instrument, a six-string Resonet Futurama, was originally purchased by Harrison in a music shop in Liverpool in 1959 and was played by the guitarist in at least 324 Beatles shows. The object was auctioned by the Nashville auction house Julien’s, with an initial value of between 600 thousand and 800 thousand dollars. The final price reached, to be precise of 1.27 million dollars, therefore made the guitar the most expensive instrument owned by George Harrison ever sold at auction.

As mentioned in the description on Julien’s website, the Futurama was used by Harrison in some of the first studio sessions with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Pete Best in the early 1960s, including during the recording of 1961’s “My Bonnie”. in which they accompanied lead singer Tony Sheridan. Additionally, Harrison used the guitar to write and record “Cry for a Shadow” with Lennon in 1961.

The Resonet Futurama was auctioned at the auction entitled “Played, Worn & Torn II”, which was held on November 20th and 21st. Other lots included items from the likes of the Rolling Stones, McCartney, Eric Clapton and Nirvana, as well as a guitar played by Prince on his 1986 “Parade” tour, which sold for $381,000.