Pink Floyd's David Gilmour Sells 126 Guitars For Climate Change In Massive Auction
The man who sang Pink Floyd’s classic song “Money,” has just donated a lot of green to fight climate change.
Former Pink Floyd frontman David Gilmour sold off more than $21 million worth of his guitars in a record-breaking auction hosted by Christie’s in New York City.
On Thursday, a crowd of bidders bought 126 of the instruments, including the iconic black Fender Stratocaster that Gilmour used to record the band’s most famous albums including “The Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish You Were Here” and “The Wall.”
The guitar was initially appraised at $100,000 to $150,000, but sold for a hammer price of $3,975,000.
In a press release, Christie’s called it “the largest and most comprehensive sale of guitars” as well as “the most valuable musical instruments sale in auction history.”
But it wasn’t meant to be another deposit in the bank for the man who played guitar on “Another Brick in the Wall.”
On Wednesday, Gilmour announced that the proceeds would go to ClientEarth, a nonprofit international environmental law organization, which will no doubt be left in the pink by the hefty donation.
“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 said. “We need a civilised world that goes on for all our grandchildren and beyond in which these guitars can be played and songs can be sung.”
ClientEarth CEO James Thornton praised the donation as “truly humbling and extraordinary.”
“The law is one of the most powerful tools we have to tackle the world’s increasing environmental problems,” he said. “This gift is a phenomenal boost to our work using the law to tackle climate change and protect nature. It will allow us to play an even greater role in addressing the climate crisis and securing a healthy planet for future generations.”
According to Christie’s, the auction was delayed by an hour due to an “unprecedented number of bidders” who lined up around the block of its Rockefeller Center location. In total, more than 2,000 bidders from 66 counties participated both online and in person.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
