Guitar bought by teen George Harrison for £58 sells for eye-watering sum
A GUITAR bought by a teenaged George Harrison for £58 has sold for more than £1million.
The Beatle was a 16-year-old apprentice electrician when his mum agreed a hire-purchase deal for the Futurama electric guitar in 1959.
Harrison played it in more than 320 shows at Liverpool’s Cavern Club and numerous times in Hamburg, Germany, in 1960 and 1961.
In 1964 it was offered as a competition prize but the winner, AJ Thompson of East Sussex, chose to take £100 cash instead.
Harrison died aged 58 in 2001.
The Futurama passed to a collector in 2019 and set a record for Harrison’s guitars when it fetched £1.03million in Nashville, Tennessee.
Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien’s Auctions, said the figure set a world record for the highest sale of a George Harrison guitar.
“George Harrison’s iconic Futurama guitar, one of the most important guitars in rock and roll history and formative to The Beatles’ sound, has made history at today’s auction,” Mr Nolan said.
“We’re beyond thrilled to add this Harrison guitar to the Julien’s Auctions’ million-dollar club, which already includes guitars from John Lennon, Eric Clapton, and Kurt Cobain.”
Julien’s Auctions also sold John Lennon’s Hootenanny acoustic guitar this year for £2.3million.