Slash’s Tour-Worn Gibson Les Paul Leads a 400-Lot Music Memorabilia Auction
A flame-patterned Gibson Les Paul played by Slash during Guns N’ Roses’ reunion tour “Not In This Lifetime” is set to headline a major music memorabilia sale featuring more than 400 lots tied to some of the most recognizable names in popular music.
The guitar — used across the band’s 2016 tour dates — carries an estimate of £150,000–£300,000 (approximately $198,000–$396,000). The 175-show run marked the first time that Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, and Slash had performed together since the early 1990s, and it ultimately grossed more than $500 million. Slash has described the Les Paul as “really the best all-around guitar for me,” a line that will likely resonate with collectors who prize instruments not just as objects, but as working tools with a documented stage life.
Queen memorabilia forms another major pillar of the auction, driven by a consignment of more than 60 items from Peter Hince, the band’s head roadie for 11 years. The standout is a Shure 565 SD golden microphone presented to Freddie Mercury in 1980 by Circus Magazine. Mercury later gave the microphone to Hince as a thank you, and it is estimated at £30,000–£60,000 (approximately $39,000–$79,000).
Hince’s consignment also includes Mercury’s beige dressing gown, estimated at £10,000–£20,000 (approximately $13,300–$26,600), and a Christmas card Mercury sent him in 1987, estimated at £3,000–£6,000 (approximately $3,900–$7,900). Hince is also known for photographs that served as the basis for the exhibition “Queen Unseen,” recently presented at Italy’s Palazzo Guinigi — a reminder that behind the stage mythology sits a working archive of touring life, logistics, and intimacy.
Beatles-related material is also threaded through the sale. Among the highlights is a first draft of Paul McCartney’s handwritten lyrics for “Goodbye,” written in 1969 on Apple Records letterhead. While the Beatles recorded a demo, the song was ultimately performed by Mary Hopkin and reached No. 2 on the British charts. The lyric sheet is estimated at £55,000–£110,000 (approximately $73,100–$146,000).
Another Beatles lot points to the machinery of performance: a running order sheet from the band’s second appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964, signed by all four Beatles, estimated at £30,000–£60,000 (approximately $39,000–$79,000).
In a statement, Propstore music specialist Mark Hochman framed the sale as a cross-genre snapshot of cultural memory, emphasizing “stage-used instruments, handwritten lyrics and iconic performance-worn pieces” that offer collectors “a tangible connection to the artists and performances that helped shape the soundtrack of our lives.”
For buyers, the appeal is as much about proximity as provenance: objects that once lived under hot lights, in dressing rooms, and on the road now circulate as collectible artifacts — carrying the patina of use and the aura of moments that helped define modern music history.
