“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.