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- Several guitars used by former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler went up for auction on Wednesday, fetching hundreds of thousands each.
- It was used to record the famous opening riff to the band's 1985 hit, Money for Nothing.
- We take a look at the four most expensive guitars ever sold at auction.
Several guitars put up for sale by Mark Knopfler, the former frontman of British rock group Dire Straits, on Wednesday fetched hundreds of thousands of pounds each at auction.
They include the 1983 guitar used to record the band's hit songs Money For Nothing and Brothers in Arms, which sold for £592,000 ($754,000) at the Christie's sale in London.
Knopfler famously played the Gibson Les Paul reissue at the legendary 1985 Live Aid concert in the British capital, adding to its collectors' appeal.
It had been estimated to cost £10,000 - £15,000 but far exceeded that range.
However, the sale fell short of the £693,000 paid for an original 1959 Les Paul Standard, which the musician acquired from Bobby Tench of The Jeff Beck Group.
The costliest lot in the auction of more than 120 guitars and amps spanning Knopfler's five-decade career, it featured during tour performances in 2001 and 2008, as well as several recordings.
One of a pair of vintage Les Pauls - from 1958 and 1959 - that the frontman bought in the 1990s was described by Christie's as "a true collector's instrument, with a beautifully faded cherry-red sunburst finish".
Knopfler will donate a quarter of the sales proceeds to various charities, including the British Red Cross, wildlife conservationists Tusk and children's not-for-profit Brave Hearts of the North East.
Here are the four most expensive ever sold at auction:
1. $6 million: Kurt Cobain's Martin
The guitar that grunge-rock icon Kurt Cobain played during his legendary 1993 MTV Unplugged performance was sold in June 2020 in Los Angeles for $6 million, the record for a guitar.
After a bidding war, it went to Peter Freedman, the founder of RODE Microphones.
The retro acoustic-electric 1959 Martin D-18E took centre stage during Nirvana's Unplugged gig, which was turned into one of rock's greatest live albums.
Just five months later, Nirvana frontman Cobain committed suicide at the age of 27.
2. $4.7 million: Cobain's Fender Mustang
Cobain also owned the second-most expensive guitar, a Fender Mustang used in the video of Smells Like Teen Spirit in 1991.
Nirvana's breakout song, which became a mosh pit classic, was an anthem for a generation of disaffected teenagers.
The guitar was snapped up in May 2022 for $4.7 million by the owner of the Indianapolis Colts football team, Jim Irsay, and it joined a collection that includes guitars by Jimi Hendrix and Prince, among others.
3. $4 million: David Gilmour's Fender Stratocaster
A Fender Stratocaster, dubbed "Black Strat", which was used by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour on The Dark Side of the Moon, sold for nearly $4 million in June 2019, a record at the time.
It was sold, also to Irsay, at a charity sale at Christie's, which netted $21.5 million for the environmental NGO ClientEarth.
4. $3.9 million: Eddie Van Halen's Kramer
Eddie Van Halen's custom-made Kramer electric guitar, which featured in the iconic music video for Van Halen's Hot For Teacher, sold for $3.9 million at Sotheby's in April 2023.
READ | From Mercury's piano to Monroe's dress: See the celebrity memorabilia sold for eye-popping numbers
