Julien’s Auctions MUSIC ICONS kicked off its marquee two-day music auction event today in Beverly Hills with its highly anticipated sale of the mythic guitar played by Prince: his beloved “Blue Angel” Cloud 2 electric guitar.
The seven-time Grammy award winning artist’s primary performance guitar used at the height of his career in the 1980s & 1990s sold for $563,500. The guitar is considered one of the most historically important guitars played by Prince that has ever come up for auction and took center stage in his most iconic career performances on stage and screen including: his tours for “Purple Rain” (1984-1985), “The Parade Tour” (1986), “Sign o’ the Times,” (1987), “Lovesexy,” (1988-1989) and “Diamonds and Pearls” (1992), Saturday Night Live’s “15th Anniversary Special,” (September 24, 1989), the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards, his legendary 1991 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, music videos for “Get Off” and “Cream,” as well as photo appearances on the covers of Spin magazine (September 1991) and the film poster for the 1987 music documentary Sign o’ The Times.
Shortly after Julien’s Auctions announced that the 1984 custom made guitar would be included in their Music Icons sale, a remarkable historic discovery was made about the guitar when the auction house was contacted by John Woodland, who performs conservation work on Prince’s guitars at his fabled headquarters and home, Paisley Park. After CT scans and comprehensive research was conducted on the instrument, it was verified that guitar was in fact The Purple One’s beloved Cloud 2 which had been considered long lost.
In November 2017, Julien’s Auctions achieved the world record for the highest price ever paid at the time for a Prince guitar sold at auction in its sale of a teal Cloud guitar which sold for $700,000 and Prince’s custom made played yellow Cloud guitar which sold for $225,000 in May 2018.
Other highlights sold on day one of today’s Music Icons sale included (with winning bids): Elvis Presley’s stage worn ivory macrame belt with accented reflective stones that sold for a staggering $298,000, nearly thirty times its original estimate of $10,000; “The King’s” gifted diamond TCB necklace ($34,375, over four times its estimate of $8,000) as well as Presley’s sensational vehicles including his 1977 Lincoln Mark V coupe ($62,500), his 1966 Chevrolet Impala ($62,500) and his 1977 Chevrolet 30 Series Silverado ($41,600); Madonna’s ivory satin halter gown worn in her iconic 1990 “Vogue” music video which sold for a staggering $179,200, almost nine times its original estimate of $20,000; a custom Beaumont Special by Dean B. Zelinsky guitar played by Johnny Winter in his final live performance ($19,200); Bob Marley’s signed and inscribed Exodus album ($18,750); Jim Morrison’s signed first edition of The New Creature, his self-published 88-page bound book of poetry given to his friend Alain Ronay ($11,520); Johnny Cash’s Valencia acoustic guitar signed by Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, members of the country supergroup The Highwaymen ($57,600) and more.
