Knopfler sells guitars for £8.8m – Emi S
In November 2023, it was announced Mark Knopfler would be selling number of his guitars, with 25% of the profit going to charity. For those of you who don’t know, Knopfler is a guitarist who gained popularity from being the frontman of the 80s blues/rock band Dire Straits, and has a successful solo career today in the folk and country genres – in fact, he’s just about to release another album.
His iconic image can be most commonly made up of his headbands and fingerstyle playing, but this isn’t complete without one of his many recognisable guitars. Most iconic are his 1983 Les Paul, the silver National Style O, and the red Strat, some of which are pictured below.
The reason this auction has been so publicised is that it’s broken a world record: more than 120 of his guitars have been sold to make somewhere in the region of £11 million, with 25% of the profits going to various charities. In addition, many of the original estimates for what the guitars would sell for were vast underestimates. For example, the ’83 Les Paul (pictured above) was estimated to sell for £10,000-15,000 but actually sold for £592,000. This was the same case for the 1988 Pensa-Suhr MK-1 (pictured below) that Knopfler played at Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday tribute concert, which was estimated to sell for £8,000 but sold for £504,000.
It’s interesting to see such a high-profile guitarist who’s still active selling some of his most famous guitars. Living in a household which idolises Dire Straits (my dad has officially deemed Sultans of Swing ‘the best song in existence’), it comes as no surprise to me that Knopfler’s most prominent guitars sold for in the ballpark of £500k each. The reason the guitars have sold for so much is the immense impact that Knopfler and Dire Straits have had on the musical world, from performing in Live Aid, to having a world-record breaking tour and being one of the best-selling music artists of all time. If you want to start anywhere, start with the 1984 Alchemy Live in Hammersmith album – a testament to their greatness. Specifically the 15-minute version of Tunnel of Love. Or Expresso Love. Or Love Over Gold (sensing a theme here…?) – all of which are some of the greatest songs OAT.
Knopfler told BBC in November: ‘I hope they all get played […] I don’t think they do too well living in a case all their lives.’ – which reminds me… if some people are willing to pay over £500k to play a guitar, I should probably practice mine more than once in a blue moon.
Post Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.