“When the song was done, I turned to everybody and said, ‘I think this song is going to be massive’”: Don't Stop Believin' is Journey's signature song – now, the guitar that was used to record it has been sold for over a quarter of a million dollars

Neal Schon of Journey performs on stage at the Nassau Colliseum on October 10, 1981 in Uniondale, Long Island, New York. Playing a Gibson Les Paul guitar with P90 pickups.

The 1977 Gibson Les Paul Pro Deluxe that Journey’s Neal Schon famously used to record Don't Stop Believin’ went under the hammer for $254,000 on March 12 at the historic Jim Irsay Collection auction. The guitar had previously sold for $250,000 at auction in 2021.

Aside from being used on one of the most enduring rock anthems of all time, Schon believes it to be the first-ever Les Paul fitted with a double-locking Floyd Rose vibrato system.

Other specs include a mahogany body with a maple top in a black finish, a maple neck with a bound ebony fingerboard and faux-pearl inlays, and two double-coil pickups, including Fernandes Sustainer circuitry.

The guitar also features Schon-specific trimmings like a Ferrari sticker on the back, a signed autograph on the reverse of the headstock, and a white flight case with JOURNEY / NIGHTMARE INC. / SAN FRANCISCO U.S.A. stenciled in black. And, as a bonus, the new owner also bagged a tremolo bar and strap, plus a copy of the July 1982 edition of Guitar Player, the cover of which features both Schon and the guitar.

Speaking about the song now synonymous with Journey, Schon told Guitar World in a 2022 interview, “For the first time, you’re hearing a chorus on the outro, which was completely against all rules of nature in that time period – and now – if you’re going to try to get a song on the radio. The saying was, ‘Don’t bore me. Get to the chorus.’

He continued, “In this case, the chorus didn’t happen until the end of the song. Actually, I had a short guitar solo before the chorus; so the obvious thing for me to do was to play the melody of Don’t Stop Believin’ – the melody people are going to hear right after I play it.

(Image credit: Christie's)

“Steve [Perry, Journey's vocalist] turned to me and said, ‘What? You’re going to play the melody that I’m going to sing?’ I go, ‘Why not? It’s a good one.’ When the song was done and the mix was almost finalized, I turned to everybody in the room and said, ‘I think this song is going to be massive.’”

The Jim Irsay auction has indeed smashed all pre-auction estimates – with David Gilmour's iconic Black Strat topping the list after going under the hammer for a whopping $14,550,000.