McCartney's Handwritten 'Hey Jude' Lyrics Sell In Virtual Auction For $910K
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Money can't buy you love — or so the Beatles sang — but it can snag a piece of pop music history.
On Friday, one lucky collector bought Paul McCartney's handwritten lyrics to the 1968 Beatles classic "Hey Jude" during an online auction for $910,000.
McCartney's hastily scribbled notes for a studio recording of the song was among 250 items of Beatles memorabilia — including an annotated shooting script of the band's 1967 "Hello, Goodbye" music video and a standing ashtray used by Ringo Starr at the Abbey Road recording studios in London — according to Los Angeles-based Julien's Auctions.
The auction house did not disclose the name or location of the "Hey Jude" lyrics buyer except that he is a collector ho lives in the United States. The original estimate of the lyrics' worth was $160,000, Julien's said.
McCartney originally wrote "Hey Jude" for Lennon's then-5-year-old son Julian during John's separation from his first wife Cynthia Lennon.
Another top seller was a vintage Ludwig bass drumhead bearing the Beatles logo used at the Cow Palace Arena in San Francisco in 1964. The original estimate for the piece was $50,000, though it ended up selling for $200,000.
A drawing by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, featured in the couple's 1969 "Bed in Peace" documentary went to $93,750, according to Julien's.
The live online auction included an auctioneer conducting the sale in streaming video in front of a global audience of registered bidders and fans live-streaming the event from their homes.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
