Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour Auctions 126 Guitars to Fight Climate Change
Some causes are worth giving up everything for. That’s what Pink Floyd’s guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour believes about climate change and saving out planet.
Gilmour is so concerned that he auctioned 126 of his guitars in order to donate the proceeds to the nonprofit ClientEarth. The charity uses lawyers and environmental experts to fight against climate change and to protect the environment in the courtroom.
I am pleased to announce that all the proceeds from the #GilmourGuitars Sale at @ChristiesInc in New York tomorrow will be donated to the charity @ClientEarth. (1/5) pic.twitter.com/uFJ1CvA6QK
— David Gilmour (@_DavidGilmour) June 19, 2019
The most sought-after guitar was the legendary Black Strat, a 1969 Fender Stratocaster which Gilmour used to record Pink Floyd albums “The Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Animals,” and “The Wall.” The Black Strat sold for a whopping $3,875,000, the largest amount ever paid for a guitar at an auction.
This was not the original black Fender Stratocaster, that was stolen in New Orleans on tour along with the rest of the band’s equipment a mere six-weeks after he purchased it. He bought this one in May 1970 at Manny’s guitar store in New York City according to Rolling Stone. Over the years he made many modifications to it to perfect the sound and he retired it in the mid-1980s when he purchased the Red Strat.
“You know something? For me, I can let go of it,” Gilmour told Rolling Stone. “It’s going to bring a lot of people to have a look at this sale, and it’s going to do that job. It’s a lovely guitar…. I did my ‘Comfortably Numb’ solo on it. The notes for the beginning of ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond’ fell out of it one day.”The guitar was purchased by Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay who also purchased several other guitars from the collection. He tweeted about the legendary guitars history and how honored he was to bring this piece of history to the public.
Gilmour is thrilled with the amount of money that was raised for ClientEarth. “The choice really is that simple, and I hope that the sale of these guitars will help ClientEarth in their cause to use the law to bring about real change,” he tweeted.
“The global climate crisis is the greatest challenge that humanity will ever face, and we are within a few years of the effects of global warming being irreversible,” Gilmour tweeted.
Over$4 million for the Black Strat and co!! A record purchase. Honored to support Gilmour’s charity ClientEarth.
— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) June 20, 2019
“We need a civilized world that goes on for all our grandchildren and beyond in which these guitars can be played, and songs can be sung.”
James Thornton, ClientEarth CEO said that the gift will do an enormous amount of good to support the NGOs efforts to safeguard a sustainable planet for future generations. David Gilmour’s gift can go along way to make that happen.
