Beatles for sale.
A live and internet auction is underway, featuring items that once belonged to John Lennon and were left to his eldest son, Julian Lennon.
Those pieces of pop culture history include a cape worn by the former Beatle in the film “Help!,” a coat Lennon wore in “Magical Mystery Tour” and a trio of guitars plucked by the “Starting Over” singer.
The “Lennon Connection: The NFT Collection” auction, being curated by Julien’s Auction House, also includes Paul McCartney’s handwritten notes for the 1968 song “Hey Jude.” That tune was inspired by the tribulations of Julian Lennon, whose dad divorced Cynthia Lennon, Julian’s mother, and began a relationship with Yoko Ono in 1968. Ono remained John Lennon’s wife until the “Imagine” singer was killed by a gunman in 1980.
Bidding began last week and continues through Feb. 7. It takes place both on the web as well as at a Beverly Hills lot where items can be viewed. Buyers will be purchasing a nonfungible token, or NFT, which includes a recorded narration of each item by Julian Lennon.
“I’ve been collecting these personal items for about 30 years, and I was getting a bit fed up with them being locked away in a vault, where I’ve had to keep them because I didn’t want them to get damaged,” Julian Lennon told Variety, where the auction was announced.
The 58-year-old Beatle scion, who had a pair of top-10 hits himself in 1984, said he’d hoped to take items bequeathed from his dad on tour, but that plan was derailed by the pandemic.
As of Wednesday morning, the highest bid was a $50,000 offer for a digital asset of McCartney’s handwritten notes, according to Julienslive.com.
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