A custom-made yellow guitar owned by Prince sold for US $225,000 in New York on Friday, headlining a sale of jewellery, outfits and memorabilia from the late pop icon, Julien’s Auctions said.
The yellow “Cloud” guitar, so named for its unique twisting body, also has Prince’s signature love symbols engraved between the frets, and had been valued before the sale at US $60,000-80,000, Julien’s said.
Last year, the auction house sold another Cloud guitar for a cool US $700,000.
The Clouds were made for Prince by Minneapolis luthier Dave Rusan, with one starring in the 1984 film “Purple Rain,” where Prince’s alter ego “The Kid” receives one as a gift from his girlfriend Apollonia.
An electric blue turtleneck with matching trousers that Prince – whose best-known hits included “1999” – wore at a turn-of-the-millennium New Year’s Eve party at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota – sold for US $108,797, the auction house said.
Prince also wore the outfit when jamming with Lenny Kravitz at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1999. It had been valued at US $50,000 to US $70,000.
The suit, like many of the items, were listed as coming from Prince’s ex-wife Mayte Garcia, a dancer and mother of Prince’s only known child – who died shortly after birth in 1996 due to a rare disorder.
The auction, which raked in a total of US $2 million, featured scores of items from the late superstar, known for his unique style, ranging from early childhood photos to golden record trophies to some of his most eye-grabbing attire.
A diamond love pendant sold for US $57,597 and a devore ensemble with a jacket and fitted trousers sold for US $51,197, Julien’s Auctions said.
Prince died in April 2016 at his Paisley Park studio and headquarters, from an accidental overdose of powerful painkillers. He was 57.
Last month, prosecutors in Minnesota decided not to file charges over his death, saying they could not determine who provided the hitmaker with counterfeit painkillers and detected no intention to kill him.
The reclusive star’s family has since filed its own lawsuit against an Illinois hospital that treated him, according to an international news agency report.
