Items from Taylor Swift, Dr. Dre, Harry Styles, Christine McVie, Metallica’s James Hetfield and others will be available
Julien’s Auctions has unveiled the first star-studded lineup of items to be sold at MusiCares Charity Relief Auction, the music industry’s highly anticipated event that will take place live for the first time at the Grammy Museum in Downtown Los Angeles and online on juliensauctions.com on Sunday, February 4th. The annual live stream music auction on the day of the awards ceremony will feature sensational items from many of this year’s Grammy-nominated artists as well as past illustrious Grammy honorees in a multi-camera livestream to be directed by Jerry Foley, the multi-Emmy Award-nominated director of Late Show with David Letterman. The livestream will run additionally on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram Live, in addition to Julien’s and MusiCares’ websites to reach a global viewing audience of bidders, music fans and collectors in a unique pre-Grammy Awards experience.
More than 75 exclusive, one-of-a-kind items given by the world’s biggest music artists and cultural figures of our time will include instruments, wardrobe, personal items, and memorabilia coming directly from the likes of Christine McVie, Taylor Swift, James Hetfield, Robert Smith, Paul McCartney, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Dr. Dre, Los Angeles Lakers, Joe Walsh, and Lionel Richie will hit the auction block with many being offered to the public for the first time. More items from several yet-to-be-revealed artists will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
This Official Grammy Week event precedes the 66th Annual Grammy Awards telecast. Proceeds will benefit MusiCares, the leading music industry charity. MusiCares provides the music community a support system of health and human services across a spectrum of needs including physical and mental health, addiction recovery, unforeseen personal emergencies and disaster relief.
Making a grand entrance on the auction stage will be a famous piano from one of the most popular rock bands of all time, Fleetwood Mac: Christine McVie’s Yamaha C3 Baby Grand Piano (estimate: $20,000 – $30,000). The piano played on stage by one of the legendary Grammy Award-winning band members, co-founder, co-lead singer, keyboardist, and songwriter is named after the super group’s most beloved track “Songbird” written by McVie. She performed on this piano for two decades between the tours for Rumours and The Dance in 1977 and 1997 in Fleetwood Mac’s closing encores in concert.
From Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2023, Taylor Swift is a signature Baby Taylor model acoustic guitar in natural finish signed by Swift with a heart after her name below the sound hole (estimate: $5,000 – $7,000) on offer. Note: this guitar has not been played by Swift but was donated and signed by her. The 12-time Grammy Award-winning pop culture phenomenon and only female in Grammy history to win Album of the Year three times is one of the most influential women in the world who continues to shatter records with the ongoing success of the landmark Taylor Swift Eras Tour.
Paul McCartney, music icon, founding Beatles member, and 18-time Grammy Award winner will be offering a signed, hardcover copy of the 2021 book of the year The Lyrics: 1965 to Present. The essential addition to any music book collection features two volumes of the musician’s lyrics to 154 of his songs from his time before and during the Beatles, Wings and his solo career that will be personalized to the winning bidder (estimate: $1,000 – $2,000). Included in the book is McCartney’s commentary, never-before-seen photos, handwritten notes, art, and ephemera, all of which are part of his collection and are being offered for public view for the first time.
Guitars, wardrobe, footwear, memorabilia, and beyond from enduring and emerging icons across genres of hard rock/metal, pop, alternative, rap, hip hop, and more are exceptional highlights of this auction such as Metallica frontman James Hetfield’s signature ESP LTD Vulture model guitar signed by Hetfield “JH 23 / Metallica / 2023” in black satin finish with EMG Het Set pickups, set-neck and ebony fingerboard with custom vulture inlay, in original hard case with an assortment of guitar picks and an ESP sticker ($4,000 – $6,000) (photo right: James Hetfield signing guitar).
The Cure frontman and two-time Grammy nominee Robert Smith’s RS-1000 Stage Artist Edition signature Schecter model acoustic guitar, in black finish with moon and star inlays, signed by Smith “The Cure / 2023 / Robert Smith” ($3,000 – $5,000) played on stage at The Cure’s May 2023 Hollywood Bowl performance during the North American leg of their “Shows of a Lost World” tour (photo right). The tone knobs are taped over and the volume knob features a glow-in-the-dark sticker, with additional glow-in-the-dark stickers along the fretboard binding marking the frets.
Robert Smith’s RS-1000 Stage Artist Edition signature Schecter model acoustic guitar, in black finish with moon and star inlays, signed by Smith
Harry Styles’ signed 1999 Gretsch White Falcon hollow body electric guitar, in white finish with gold sparkle bindings and Cadillac Tailpiece ($3,000 – $5,000) (photo right). The body of the guitar is signed and dated 2023 with a drawing of a heart and swirl by the singer, songwriter, acclaimed actor and fashion icon, who’s been honored with six Brit Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Ivor Novello Award, and three American Music Awards.
A pair of all-white Nike Air Force 1 Low ’07 sneakers exclusively signed by seven-time Grammy winner Andre “Dr. Dre” Young for MusiCares. Each sneaker features Dr. Dre’s signature prominently on the lateral side ($500 – $700). With four RIAA platinum-certified albums, two RIAA platinum-certified singles, three RIAA gold-certified singles, and one RIAA gold-certified album, Dr. Dre continues to reign supreme among hip-hop heavyweights more than 30 years after breaking onto the music scene as a DJ in his teens, and soon garnering major success with the rap group, NWA. The co-founder of Death Row Records, and later Aftermath Entertainment, Dr. Dre was inducted by Kendrick Lamar into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of NWA in 2016.
Five-time Grammy-winning artist and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee of the famed Eagles and legendary guitarist, Joe Walsh’s personally owned and signed 2015 Fender Stratocaster guitar in Olympic White finish with Fender Hot Noiseless Stratocaster pickups, with rosewood fingerboard and black nylon guitar strap. The body of the guitar is boldly signed in black marker by Joe Walsh who selected this guitar from his collection ($4,000 – $6,000).
Lionel Richie’s custom-made, gold sequined performance bomber jacket features a large Swarovski crystal-embellished “All Night Long” graphic. Top celebrity stylist David Thomas created this style of performance jacket for the four-time Grammy Award winner and 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year honoree in red, blue and this example in gold ($4,000 – $6,000).
GRAMMY Award-winning Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash’s signed 2023 Gibson Les Paul Anaconda Burst Guitar with Anaconda green flame maple top, in original case with accessories. The guitar features Slash’s “Scully” design stamped “Demo” and signature truss rod cover with a large “Scully” doodle drawn by Slash on the body of the guitar donated by Gibson Gives in silver marker above his signature ($6,000 – $8,000).
Seven-time Grammy Award-winning Coldplay frontman Chris Martin’s handwritten colorful set list including Coldplay’s classic songs “Paradise,” “Clocks,” “Yellow,” and more from Coldplay’s live performance at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on October 1, 2023 ($300 – $500).
Two-time Grammy-nominated alternative folk band Lumineers’ signed “Cleopatra” partial lyrics written out by hand that reads “I was late for this, late for that / Late for the love of my life / And when I die alone, when I die alone, / When I die I’ll be on time./ The Lumineers” with additional heart and signed by band members Wesley Schultz (vocals, guitar), Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion). The page features an additional drawing in ink of a Cleopatra winged headdress and crown ($600 – $800); and much more.
MusiCares helps the humans behind music because music gives so much to the world. Offering preventive, emergency and recovery programs, MusiCares is a safety net supporting the health and welfare of the music community. Founded by the Recording Academy in 1989 as a US-based 501(c)(3) charity, MusiCares safeguards the well-being of all music people through direct financial grant programs, networks of support resources, and tailored crisis relief efforts.
