Prince's guitar and a lock of Bowie's hair fetch $150,000 at US auction

  • Published
Photo provided by Heritage Auctions shows Prince playing his Yellow Cloud electric guitarImage source, AP/Heritage Auctions
Image caption,

Prince was a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and recorded more than 30 albums

An electric guitar owned by Prince and a lock of David Bowie's hair have sold at auction in the US for a total of more than $150,000 (£110,000).

The Yellow Cloud guitar, said to be one of Prince's favourites, was bought for $137,500 by the owner of the American Football team Indianapolis Colts.

Bowie's hair, which sold for $18,750, came from a former employee of Madame Tussauds in London who had used it to recreate the music icon's 1983 hairdo.

Both stars died earlier this year.

Prince died from an accidental overdose at his Minnesota home in April while Bowie died of cancer in January.

Image source, AFP/Getty
Image caption,

David Bowie in 1983

Prince's custom-made Yellow Cloud guitar was bought at the auction conducted by Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills, California, by Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, according to AP news agency.

The Yellow Cloud guitar was built in the late 1980s by Knut-Koupee Enterprises of Minneapolis and used in numerous concerts until the mid-1990s.

Mr Irsay is a well known collector of musical instruments. He also has items once owned by stars including Bob Dylan, Jon Lennon and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.

Last December he was reported to have bought a drum kit played by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr for $2.1m.

Image source, EPA
Image caption,

The guitar was in an auction of memorabilia in Beverly Hills