{"id":344585,"date":"2025-09-18T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T14:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.sothebysrealty.com\/?p=344585"},"modified":"2025-10-16T16:36:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T20:36:32","slug":"collecting-focus-music-memorabilia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/collecting-focus-music-memorabilia\/","title":{"rendered":"Collecting Focus: Music Memorabilia"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Acquiring an instrument or manuscript touched by rock \u2019n\u2019 roll royalty can be a deeply personal and nostalgic experience<\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Freddie-Mercury-A-World-of-His-Own.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"344639\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/music-memorabilia_freddie-mercury-a-world-of-his-own-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Freddie-Mercury-A-World-of-His-Own-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2500,1668\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music Memorabilia_Freddie Mercury A World of His Own\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Freddie-Mercury-A-World-of-His-Own-1-1024x683.jpg\" class=\" wp-image-344639 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Freddie-Mercury-A-World-of-His-Own-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"905\" height=\"603\" \/><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The \u201cFreddie Mercury: A World of His Own\u201d exhibition at Sotheby\u2019s London in 2023. Photograph: Sotheby\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sotheby\u2019s has a long history of selling rock and pop memorabilia. In 1984, John Lennon\u2019s widow Yoko Ono consigned more than 100 items from the singer\u2019s estate to the auction house, including cars, juke boxes, jewelry and furnishings from the couple\u2019s homes. Property from the estate of Buddy Holly, including his <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gibson acoustic guitar, was auctioned across two sales at<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Sotheby\u2019s New York in 1990. And more recently, in 2023, Sotheby\u2019s London held the blockbusting <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebys.com\/en\/series\/freddie-mercury-a-world-of-his-own?cmp=pse7000007403&amp;utm_source=gg&amp;utm_medium=148053290363&amp;utm_campaign=12093868305&amp;utm_content=656380152625&amp;cmp=%7Badgroupname%7D&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=12093868305&amp;gbraid=0AAAAACMHEXZgrYbUUQgZNUjSpzDvzL2ub&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwoP_FBhDFARIsANPG24P_4Hy6X12NkEKSmgppWIZ69sFmK4SLon7lehnzuFQqwyfOF1xli_waArunEALw_wcB\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFreddie Mercury: A World of His Own,\u201d<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0which totaled an impressive \u00a340m (US<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$50.4m)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and drew queues of more than 140,000 visitors to its month-long exhibition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The enthusiasm is easy to understand. High-profile pop culture auctions offer fans the opportunity to acquire objects connected with their entertainment idols on a personal, often nostalgic level. \u201cIt\u2019s like when you were a young child in the back seat of your parents\u2019 car and you heard a song,\u201d says Craig Inciardi, pop culture consultant at Sotheby\u2019s New York and one of the founding curators of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. \u201cYou know what that means to you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At Sotheby\u2019s, the popular culture category is as wide-ranging as the name would suggest, spanning music, film, television, comics and celebrity-connected collectibles. Even within the music division, lots range in genre and time period represented, as well as objects on offer. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Mercury-Yamaha-Grand.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"344638\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/music-memorabilia_mercury-yamaha-grand-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Mercury-Yamaha-Grand-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2500,1667\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;16&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R5&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1691046640&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;23&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;2.5&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music Memorabilia_Mercury Yamaha Grand\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Mercury-Yamaha-Grand-1-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-344638\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Mercury-Yamaha-Grand-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"918\" height=\"612\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Freddie Mercury\u2019s Yamaha Grand Piano, on view at Sotheby\u2019s Bond Street galleries in London during \u201cFreddie Mercury: A World of His Own\u201d in September 2023. Photograph: Sotheby\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Musical instruments, unsurprisingly, are often among the highest-valued items. These range from pianos used in the composition of beloved songs or albums, such as Freddie Mercury\u2019s Yamaha Grand, on which he wrote \u201cBohemian Rhapsody,\u201d to guitars played on tour or at specific shows, and even instruments kept prized but untouched by their original owners.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes these collectibles will enjoy a similar fate once purchased, but this is dependent on the buyer\u2014many do continue to play them as they were intended. \u201cSome collectors keep the musical instruments stored in their cases or have Plexiglass cases made for them,\u201d says Inciardi. \u201cI\u2019ve also seen people put an important guitar over the fireplace and display it as an objet d\u2019art.\u201d Portrait photography or original paintings used in album art can be framed and hung pride of place on the wall or cherished privately in studios, studies, even bedrooms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Genesis-Album-Artwork.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"344637\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/music-memorabilia_genesis-album-artwork-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Genesis-Album-Artwork-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2500,1700\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music Memorabilia_Genesis Album Artwork\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Genesis-Album-Artwork-1-1024x696.jpg\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-344637\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Genesis-Album-Artwork-1024x696.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"928\" height=\"631\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Preliminary album artwork illustration by Paul Whitehead for \u201cNursery Cryme\u201d by Genesis, which will be auctioned during the upcoming Grails at Sotheby\u2019s New York. Photograph: Sotheby\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike in other auction categories, the condition of music memorabilia is not as pivotal as it would be for an old master painting or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/collecting-focus-high-jewelry\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a piece of high jewelry<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, for example. \u201cFor a guitar from a famous musician, you\u2019d want to see that it had a good amount of wear,\u201d says Inciardi. \u201cAt the same time, you want to make sure that it\u2019s stable enough that it\u2019s not falling apart.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Manuscripts sometimes come in at a more accessible price point, giving fans the chance to hold handwritten lyrics, chord progressions or correspondence that their idols once pored over. \u201cAnother big category is clothing,\u201d says Inciardi. \u201cClothing worn on stage, on an album cover or in an iconic photo helps us to create and define the identity of that artist.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Freddie-Mercury-Evening-Auction.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"344636\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/music-memorabilia_freddie-mercury-evening-auction-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Freddie-Mercury-Evening-Auction-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2500,3581\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music Memorabilia_Freddie Mercury Evening Auction\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Freddie-Mercury-Evening-Auction-1-715x1024.jpg\" class=\"size-large wp-image-344636 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Freddie-Mercury-Evening-Auction-715x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"902\" \/><\/a>The winning bidder celebrates after placing the final bid on Freddie Mercury&#8217;s arrow stage jacket during the &#8220;Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own&#8221; Evening Sale. Photograph: Sotheby\u2019s<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New or established collectors keen to acquire a piece of rock and roll history will have ample opportunity at Sotheby\u2019s New York this fall, during the inaugural <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebys.com\/en\/series\/grails?locale=en&amp;cmp=_b.mktg_pl.sothreal_l.en_r.US_ce.Traffic_dv.LUX_c.ESCI_\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grails<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a new <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">biannual sale billed as<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cthe ultimate celebration of collectibles and fan culture.\u201d R<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">unning September 22 to October 28, with the central <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grails Week timed to coincide with New York Comic Con, it will combine auctions, exhibitions and entertainment across the span of contemporary culture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Top billing at Grails\u2019 headline <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebys.com\/en\/buy\/auction\/2025\/rock-pop?cmp=_b.mktg_pl.sothreal_l.en_r.US_ce.Traffic_dv.LUX_c.ESCI_n.N11902_\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rock and Pop sale<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014opening for bidding on September 24\u2014 goes to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebys.com\/en\/buy\/auction\/2025\/rock-pop\/eddie-van-halen?cmp=_b.mktg_pl.sothreal_l.en_r.US_ce.Traffic_dv.LUX_c.ESCI_n.N11902_\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eddie Van Halen\u2019s Kramer electric guitar.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Featuring his trademark black and white stripes, it is based on Van Halen\u2019s modified \u201cFrankenstein\u201d instrument. \u201cIt\u2019s an extraordinarily important, and still functional, guitar, meticulously documented,\u201d says Inciardi. \u201cThese iconic Van Halen guitars, they\u2019re like fingerprints. There are no two exactly the same.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Van-Halen-Kramer-Electric.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"344641\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/music-memorabilia_van-halen-kramer-electric-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Van-Halen-Kramer-Electric-2.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2500,1875\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;KELSEY MCCLELLAN&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1753916975&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music Memorabilia_Van Halen Kramer Electric\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Van-Halen-Kramer-Electric-2-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-344641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Van-Halen-Kramer-Electric-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"473\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eddie Van Halen&#8217;s Iconic Kramer Electric, based on his original \u201cFrankenstein\u201d guitar, which will be auctioned during the upcoming Grails at Sotheby\u2019s New York. Photograph: Sotheby\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The handwritten lyrics of Bruce Springsteen\u2019s 1975 title album track \u201cBorn to Run\u201d is likely to be another star lot of the sale. \u201cSpringsteen started working on that album in 1974 and rewrote and revised the song dozens and dozens and dozens of times, so to have a page of the song during its early development is just absolutely amazing,\u201d Inciardi says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also up for grabs are two precious pieces of original artwork: one for the 1971 Genesis album, \u201cNursery Cryme,\u201d a rare collectible from the period when both Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel were in the band; another for The Rolling Stones\u2019 1974 album, \u201cIt\u2019s Only Rock \u2019n Roll.\u201d That same title could be applied to music memorabilia as a whole, of course, but you can\u2019t put a price on fandom. As Inciardi sums it up: \u201cYou have to collect what you love.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our Collecting Focus series also features expert advice on<\/span><\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/collecting-focus-high-jewelry\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">jewelry<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/collecting-focus-watches\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">watches<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/collecting-focus-wine\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wine<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/collecting-focus-historic-books\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">historic books<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/collecting-focus-fashion-history\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fashion history<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/collecting-focus-natural-history\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">natural history<\/span><\/i><\/a> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and<\/span><\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/collecting-focus-americana\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Americana<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/footer-books-generic.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"330402\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/footer-books-generic\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/footer-books-generic.png\" data-orig-size=\"1024,171\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"footer-books-generic\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/footer-books-generic.png\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-330402\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/footer-books-generic-1024x171.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"955\" height=\"159\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Acquiring an instrument or manuscript touched by rock \u2019n\u2019 roll royalty can be a deeply personal and nostalgic experience The \u201cFreddie Mercury: A World of His Own\u201d exhibition at Sotheby\u2019s London in 2023. Photograph: Sotheby\u2019s &nbsp; Sotheby\u2019s has a long history of selling rock and pop memorabilia. In 1984, John Lennon\u2019s widow Yoko Ono consigned [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232770370,"featured_media":344635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1399],"tags":[1529,1530,1487],"class_list":["post-344585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-and-design","tag-memorabilia","tag-music","tag-sothebys"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Music-Memorabilia_Freddie-Mercury-costumes-1.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pf4gbL-1rDP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":428,"url":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/collecting-focus-sports-memorabilia\/","url_meta":{"origin":344585,"position":0},"title":"Collecting Focus: Sports Memorabilia","author":"Procurement Admin","date":"March 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"From a court-worn NBA jersey to signed soccer boots, the market for big-event mementoes is reaching new heights, says Jake Uitti Michael Jordan 1998 NBA Playoffs \u2018The Last Dance\u2019 Game Worn Jersey (detail) | Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 2. \u00a9 Photo courtesy of Sotheby's Sporting artifacts are a booming market.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art and Culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art and Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/category\/art-and-culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-4.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-4.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-4.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/header-4.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":430,"url":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/extraordinary-living-blog\/sothebys-international-realty-expands-into-the-philippines\/","url_meta":{"origin":344585,"position":1},"title":"Sotheby&#8217;s International Realty Expands into the Philippines","author":"Procurement Admin","date":"March 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Sotheby's International Realty today announced the opening of Philippines Sotheby's International Realty, marking its 18th\u00a0office in\u00a0Asia. 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