The Newshound

Johnny Marr's Smiths guitar collection sells for almost £4m at Christie's, more than TRIPLING its estimate

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

A Rickenbacker electric guitar and a red Gretsch semi-hollow, among the instruments from Johnny Marr's collection that fetched £3.6m at Christie's — more than three times their pre-sale estimate — with bidders joining…
A Rickenbacker electric guitar and a red Gretsch semi-hollow, among the instruments from Johnny Marr's collection that fetched £3.6m at Christie's — more than three times their pre-sale estimate — with bidders joining…

Johnny Marr's personal guitar collection fetched £3,649,280 at Christie's London on Thursday — more than three times its pre-sale estimate — with bidders from 34 countries competing across a five-hour auction of 111 lots. Marr said the sale "exceeded all my expectations" and thanked Christie's for making it "so memorable." The result comes ahead of his new solo album, 'The Age Of Everything', due on 2 October.

Marr's 1982 Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo — used on 'This Charming Man' and The Smiths' debut — sold for £358,400, against an estimate of just £60,000 to £80,000.

His 1960 Cherry Red Gibson ES-355, which inspired 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now', fetched £204,800 after Sire Records founder Seymour Stein bought it for Marr when he joked The Smiths would sign to the label if he got a new guitar.

The same Rickenbacker appeared on the cover of Oasis's debut single 'Supersonic' after Marr lent it to Noel Gallagher during early recording sessions for 'Definitely Maybe'.

MoreIrish TimesJohnny Marr guitar collection sells for more than €4 million at auctionLondon Evening StandardJohnny Marr guitar collection fetches almost £4 million at auction - London Evening StandardGuitar.comJohnny Marr guitar auction brings in £3.6M – with several iconic Smiths instruments selling for six-figure sums - Guitar.comGuitar World“Exceeded all my expectations”: Johnny Marr’s guitar collection – including several iconic Smiths guitars – sells for almost $5m at auction - Guitar World
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