Johnny Marr to auction guitars he played with The Smiths and Billie Eilish
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- Johnny Marr is selling 95 guitars at Christie's in London on 17 September, with estimates ranging from £1,000 to £150,000 and pre-sale displays planned in New York and London over the summer.
- The collection includes a 1982 Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo heard on "This Charming Man" — also lent to Noel Gallagher for Oasis' debut single "Supersonic" — and a Martin D-28 (1971) on which Marr wrote "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out."
- Marr will donate the hammer price of 10 lots to The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and The National Autistic Society.
- A 1960 Cherry Red Gibson ES-355, given to Marr by Sire Records founder Seymour Stein to lure The Smiths to sign, was the guitar Marr played on "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"; the Cherry Gibson Les Paul from 1984 was the last guitar he played on stage with the band before being borrowed by New Order's Bernard Sumner for "Regret."
- A Fender Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar (2017) from his own line with Fender was used to record Billie Eilish's Bond theme "No Time To Die" and played on his 2018 tour.
- Marr told the BBC the decision crystallised while making his 2023 book Marr's Guitars: he didn't want his studio to become "a museum" or the instruments to "go back into storage," preferring they inspire new owners in "Belfast or Dundee or Tokyo."
- Marr is releasing his fifth solo album, The Age Of Everything, later this year and appeared as a special guest at The Gorillaz' one-off stadium concert this weekend.
Why it matters: Marr is offloading instruments tied to landmark recordings across four decades — from the indie-defining Smiths era through a Billie Eilish Bond theme — with top estimates of £150,000, meaning collectors and museums will compete for provenance-rich pieces while 10 lots raise money for The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and The National Autistic Society.
