Prince Sells Guitar to F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton for $100,000

Prince has raised $100,000 (£61,183) for charity by selling a guitar to Formula 1 racing champion Lewis Hamilton.

It follows fund raising effort after gifting $2m (£1.2m) to arts, education and environment organisations, and his announcement of a 21-date residency in Los Angeles kicking off at The Forum in Inglewood tonight, according to Digital Spy.

In a rare TV appearance (via Gigwise), the singer put a focus on the affordable $25 (£15) entry fee, citing Ticket Master as a cause of spiralling ticket prices in recent years.

"$25 is what we used to pay for concerts. Then somebody called Ticket Master came in. Now we're showing who the real ticket master is and putting the right price on it."

Prince said it would be hard to part with the golden Fender Stratocaster when he revealed it on the talk show Lopez Tonight. When asked by the host George Lopez if he still had the first guitar he ever played, Prince replied "No -- a lot of my stuff gets stolen."

When asked if he though the internet had helped music, Prince was dubious.

"It's helped people who sell the music. For an artist, they don't make the money they used to, and I think we tend not to value things we can get for free. If you put anything in the place of music and say you got it for free, you'll see what I'm talking about."

Watch the Video to Prince's 'Let's Go Crazy'