David Gilmour’s Black Strat Sets $12M Record
David Gilmour’s famed “Black Strat” has sold for $12.1 million at auction, setting a new benchmark for the most expensive guitar ever sold. The instrument is closely associated with Pink Floyd’s classic era and was used across some of the band’s most recognisable recordings and solos.
Rolling Stone reported that the guitar went under the hammer at Christie’s in New York as part of the Jim Irsay Collection, surpassing the previous record price of $6 million paid in 2020 for the 1959 Martin D-18E Kurt Cobain played during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged performance.
According to the report, the Black Strat was a key tool in the making of Pink Floyd albums including The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. Gilmour used it on tracks such as “Money” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” and for his guitar solo on “Comfortably Numb.” The instrument had been expected to fetch between $2 million and $4 million before bidding began.
The Christie’s series also included other high-profile instruments, and Alternative Nation has recently tracked continuing tensions in the Pink Floyd orbit, including claims that Roger Waters insulted David Gilmour’s wife amid the long-running dispute between the former bandmates.
The sale adds another chapter to the market for landmark rock memorabilia, with Gilmour’s Black Strat now sitting at the top of the guitar-auction record books as Christie’s continues its run of Jim Irsay Collection sales through mid-March.
