Snow Patrol guitarist Gary Lightbody has donated his life-changing Fender Telecaster to children’s charity, Cash for Kids, in a bid to raise vital funds for its Mission Christmas campaign.
It was with this 1978 Telecaster Deluxe that Lightbody wrote and recorded the band's 2006 hit, Chasing Cars, which catapulted them into the stratosphere.
The track is certified 6x platinum in the UK and 5x Platinum in the USA, where it garnered popularity after featuring in the finale of the second season of Grey's Anatomy. It was also the final song to be played live on British institution Top of the Pops, with the Telecaster playing a key role in the historic showcase. It also starred at Glastonbury 2025.
The electric guitar has now been signed by Lightbody and was auctioned off over the weekend during a gala event at the Europa Hotel in Belfast. At the time of writing, it has not been revealed how much money the guitar’s sale has raised.
“This was the guitar I wrote and recorded Chasing Cars with,” Lightbody confirms in an official statement. “I wrote the song in 2005, and we recorded it in Grouse Lodge Studios in Westmeath in early 2006. This guitar was also the main guitar I used on our tours for Final Straw and Eyes Open.”
The twin humbucker guitar, which features a maple neck and a CELT sticker on its black-finished body, shows signs of heavy wear, proving how much of a workhorse it has been for the Northern Irishman.
Cash for Kids’ Mission Christmas campaign helps thousands of children living in poverty across the UK enjoy the gift-giving joy of Christmas, ensuring they have something special to open up on the festive morning.
As of last year, over £15 million (approx $19.8m) has been raised by the yearly charity drive, with Def Leppard's Joe Elliott among its other celebrity supporters this year.
Lightbody’s bandmate Johnny McDaid made news headlines last year when, embodying the spirit of ‘the show must go on,’ he played a gig with two broken hands. He’d already played most of their tour with one broken hand, with his other hand injured ahead of a hometown show.
Though the Tele's sale is unlikely to reach the crazy figures racked up by the world's most expensive guitars, a host of Kirk Hammett's guitars have smashed expectations at a recent auction, which saw his mystery Back to the Beginning SG alone going for $70,000 more than anticipated.
