Collectors will pay surprising amounts for the right piece of music history. In this list, we’ll look at guitars, cars, lyrics, and other famous items once owned by legendary artists. Each entry is ranked from the least to the most expensive, with the final prices often topping expectations.
#1: The Beatles’ ‘E. Rigby’ Document: $177,000
This 1911 payroll document signed by an E. Rigby has long sparked curiosity among Beatles fans. Some think it may have loosely inspired the name Eleanor Rigby, though Paul McCartney has said the character was fictional. Either way, the coincidence made the document a standout piece of memorabilia.
McCartney had donated it years earlier to a music charity, and when it sold in 2008, it brought in $177,000. He later joked that if someone wanted to spend money proving a fictional character existed, he wasn’t going to stop them. The mix of history and mystery is what keeps people talking about it.