Massive trove of random rock memorabilia – including Eddie Van Halen’s 6th grade history homework – headed for auction
A massive auction of over 1,000 pieces of rock and roll history has gone live, offering items owned and played by the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton and Elvis Presley.
Now open for bidding, the 2026 April Rock & Roll Auction by Backstage Auctions is predicted to fetch upwards of seven figures overall, with a cumulative estimate of up to $1.5 million.
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There are guitars aplenty, including an Italian-made acoustic Eko Ranger signed by Bob Dylan himself and two formerly owned by Keith Richards: a classic Gibson bearing his felt-tip signature, and a bespoke 2005 Duesenberg Starplayer Outlaw electric guitar custom–made for the Rolling Stone. The guitar, which Richards gave to McLagan as a birthday gift, features rhinestones, skull-shaped knobs and a pearlescent yellow mosaic finish on the body.
In fact, several museum-worthy pieces are up for grabs. There’s the custom 1994 Don Musser acoustic guitar played by Eddie Van Halen, which was a “key component” of Van Halen’s Billboard-topping 1995 album Balance, recorded at 5150 Studios.
The instrument was also used in a couple of tracks on follow-up Van Halen III, namely “Without You” and “New World”.
For the cinematically inclined, there’s Elvis Presley’s iconic sunburst Gibson acoustic which co-starred in his smash-hit 1964 film Viva Las Vegas. The movie, regarded as one of the King’s best, sees him play a race-car driver competing for the affection of Rusty, played by Ann-Margret. It was during filming that the pair first met and began a torrid affair. The couple were even rumoured to have briefly considered elopement.
But the standout of the collection is a stripped woodgrain 1965 Fender Telecaster with a Stratocaster neck, which the auction house describes as a “singular piece of rock and roll history”.
As well as the Stratocaster neck, part of an exchange with mod icon Steve Marriott, the chimeric guitar features a humbucker salvaged from a Gibson SG that Pete Townshend smashed to pieces during one of The Who’s iconic Marquee Club performances. The object was among McLagan’s prized possessions and was his “primary soulmate in his musical journey”.
Other notable pieces for sale include a 1974 black Fender Stratocaster owned and played on-stage by Eric Clapton and a Chinese-style Paiste gong extensively used by Keith Moon until his death in 1976.
Among the wonderfully niche and downright weird items of rock memorabilia is Eddie Van Halen’s 6th grade history homework on the Soviet Union, which earned the legendary guitarist to-be a solid B+ from his teacher Mrs Burton. And it could be yours for $500.
There’s also an “avant-garde” safety-pinned leather thong worn by Fee Waybill of The Tubes going for the same price. Or a purple felt-tip doodle by the late Kurt Cobain, which depicts a stick figure – “presumably himself”, as notes the auction house – about to be hit by a bus is commanding a lean $2,000. The scribble, says Backstage Auctions, “provide[s] insight into his creative mind”.
The collection chiefly comes from the personal archives of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ian McLagan, who passed away in Austin in December 2014. Best known for his work with the seminal English rock bands Small Faces and Faces, McLagan also toured with Bob Dylan and worked as a sideman for the Rolling Stones.
Learn more at Backstage Auctions.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
