Sotheby’s New York will bring together two celebrated instruments for its inaugural Rock & Pop sale: Elvis Presley’s cherry-red Hagstrom guitar from the 1968 Comeback Special, estimated at $1 million to $2 million, and Noel Gallagher’s signed acoustic guitar from the Oasis (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? sessions, estimated at $60,000 to $80,000. The online sale is open for bidding from 9 to 23 April, with the works on exhibition at The Breuer Building from 13 to 20 April.
The cherry-red Hagstrom Viking II was played by Elvis Presley during the 1968 television special Singer Presents... Elvis, commonly known as the ’68 Comeback Special, which aired on NBC on 3 December 1968. Presley used the guitar during full band numbers and seated jam sessions, including “ Blue Suede Shoes,” “ Trouble,” and “ Guitar Man,” and a photograph of him playing it graced the cover of his 1969 album From Elvis in Memphis. The special marked Elvis’s return to live performance after a seven-year hiatus focused on films and became the most-watched program of the television season.
The guitar reached the set almost by chance. When an instrument Presley had brought did not stand out against the bold red and black set design, director Steve Binder and producer Bones Howe asked session guitarist Al Casey whether Elvis could use his cherry-red Hagstrom instead. The instrument has since been exhibited at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and a similar guitar appears in the 2022 film Elvis.
Noel Gallagher’s Epiphone EJ-200 acoustic guitar, estimated at $60,000 to $80,000, was signed and used while writing songs for Oasis’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, the album that features “ Wonderwall,” “ Don’t Look Back in Anger,” “ Champagne Supernova,” “ Roll with It,” and “ Some Might Say.” Following the 2025 Oasis reunion tour and Gallagher’s recognition as Songwriter of the Year at this year’s BRIT Awards in Manchester, the album carries renewed cultural attention. Accompanying the guitar are Gallagher’s handwritten manuscript for “ Don’t Look Back in Anger,” estimated at $30,000 to $40,000, and his 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, estimated at $60,000 to $80,000.
Additional highlights span rock history, including Bruce Springsteen’s photomatched acoustic guitar used to write “ Born to Run,” estimated at $200,000 to $250,000; David Bowie’s handwritten lyrics for “ The Jean Genie,” estimated at $125,000 to $150,000; a guitar belonging to Eric Clapton, estimated at $175,000 to $200,000; and a rare piece of Keith Moon’s “ Pictures of Lily” drum kit, estimated at $250,000 to $300,000.
(Press Release)
