“Prince was not a guy who would sit around and polish his guitars or even think that much about them – they were tools”: In 2005, Prince’s Cloud 3 sold for $10,000. Now it’s expected to fetch $600,000 at auction

Left: Prince holding his Cloud 3 guitar on stage; Right: an image of the yellow Cloud 3 guitar.

Prince's iconic Cloud 3 electric guitar has returned to auction after it was last sold almost 20 years ago. The yellow Cloud 3 was one of Prince's centerpiece instruments, after being used on stage at the height of his stardom in the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, including during the Purple Rain, Parade, Sign of the Times, Lovesexy, and Diamonds & Pearls tours.

Christie previously sold Prince's Cloud 3 for £4,200 (around $8,114 at the time) in 2005 and on eBay for less than its original listing of £59,000 (approx $113,983). The main reason for this low price, however, was that it was not yet verified as Prince's original instrument.