The price exceeded expectations by more than three times.
Auction house Christie's announced that the famous electric guitar used by David Gilmour during the recording of all Pink Floyd albums from 1970 to 1983 was sold for a record amount of $14.6 million.
Thus, the guitar, known as the 'Black Stratocaster', became the most expensive ever sold in the world. The identity of the buyer has not been disclosed.
This guitar can be heard on some of Pink Floyd's most popular recordings, including the albums 'The Dark Side of the Moon', 'Wish You Were Here', and 'The Wall'.
Christie's had predicted that Gilmour's Fender Stratocaster would sell for between two and four million dollars.
Prior to this, the most expensive guitar in the world was the acoustic-electric 'Martin D-18E', released in 1959 and used by Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain during the famous MTV Unplugged concert in 1993. This guitar was sold at auction in 2020 for $6 million.
At this auction, another guitar of Kurt Cobain was also sold — a blue Fender Mustang, which the Nirvana frontman used while recording the music video for the song 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' — its price was $6.9 million.
The instruments were sold as part of the auction of the estate of American billionaire Jim Irsay, who passed away in 2025.
Among the lots were several other musical instruments belonging to rock stars.
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