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John Lennon guitar sells for $2.9m, breaking Beatles auction record

Lennon’s 12-string Hootenanny, heard on Help! album and film, had not been seen or played for half a century

Decades later, new owners living in the rural British countryside rediscovered the guitar in the midst of their move and put it up for auction with an estimate of between £485,000 and £647,000. David Goodman, the chief executive of the auctioneers, said: “We are absolutely thrilled and honoured to have set a new world record with the sale of John Lennon’s lost Hootenanny guitar. It was also used during the recording sessions for Help!, It’s Only Love, I’ve Just Seen a Face and Girl, and on the rhythm track for Norwegian Wood played by George Harrison.

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