John Lennon Lyrics Fetch $1.2 Million at Auction

Posted on Jun 19th 2010 12:30PM by Liz Colville
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An original copy of John Lennon's lyrics to 'A Day in the Life,' the final track on the seminal album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,' has sold at an auction house in New York City for $1.2 million. The late Beatle's handwritten lyrics, composed in pen and marker on a single sheet of paper, were purchased by an American collector for nearly double the auction house Sotheby's high estimate of $800,000.

Lennon used pen and marker to write up and correct the lyrics for the critically lauded song, which was banned by the BBC due to suggestive lyrics about drug use, and was also removed from some copies of 'Sgt. Pepper' sold in Asia due to those lyrics, according to AP.

Lennon wrote on the front and back of the paper. The front contains the "first draft" of the lyrics written in "a hurried cursive script," writes AP. The back is written in all-capital letters and adds a new lyric -- "I'd love to turn you on" -- which was one of the lines the censors weren't fond of.

A copy of the Beatles' lyrics to 'All You Need Is Love' sold at a British auction house for slightly more -- $1.25 million -- in 2005, likely due to the song's immense popularity.

Lennon's status as a musician and activist, coupled with his tragic death at age 40, has naturally raised the value of many of his possessions. But some auction results have shown that it's mostly his work with the Beatles and as a solo artist that collectors and fans value most. In 2001, a Mercedes limousine owned by the musician failed to meet its reserve price at a sale at London's Hard Rock Cafe, and a Steinway piano sold for slightly less than the auction house's estimate: $1.1 million.

The year before, the singer George Michael purchased a different Lennon piano for $2.2 million. This one held more sentimental value: it was the piano that Lennon used to compose the iconic song 'Imagine.' Michael said he intended to give the piano to the Beatles Museum in the band's hometown of Liverpool. In fact, Michael still owns the piano, but he loans it out to museums for special exhibits. This year, it was displayed at the new Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) in Phoenix, AZ.