Beatles legend John Lennon's velvet jacket going up for auction in Liverpool
A black velvet suit jacket once owned by John Lennon will go up for auction in Liverpool next month. The jacket was said to be a favourite of John's and he can be seen wearing it in the 1971 film 'Imagine'. John's friend and music producer Tony King bought the jacket for him from Take 6 in London at a time when the ex-Beatle was under threat of deportation from America. After wearing the jacket throughout the early 1970s, John gifted it to Harry Nilsson's wife, Una, in 1974.
Una had reportedly taken a real shine to the jacket, and while they were all staying together at the Pierre Hotel in New York, John handed it to her. It still retains the star lapel badge - a souvenir from the Beatles' Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band album, released in 1967.
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In 1992, the jacket was gifted to a business colleague of Harry Nilsson's, and then displayed alongside John's famous army jacket in the Hard Rock Café. In 2000, it was offered at auction during the annual Beatles Convention to celebrate the opening of Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. The current owner bought it at this event, and it has been on display at the Beatles Story in Liverpool for over 20 years.
Adam Partridge will be auctioning the jacket on December 5 in his Liverpool Saleroom on Jordan Street. Adam said: "This truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to offer an item owned and made famous by one of the most important figures of the 20th century.
"Having had an auction house in Liverpool for 15 years, it is an honour to be selling such an iconic piece in the city that created the ‘band that changed the world,’ and there is no more fitting place than Liverpool to see the jacket come to market. It carries an auction estimate of £500,000-£700,000."
The owner of the jacket will be donating proceeds to the Lennon Imagine Trust. The funds from the sale will be used by the Trust to continue John's legacy in Liverpool by supporting the trust's 'Music Education Experience'. This aims to introduce children to 'repurposed musical instruments through a play setting' in the hope of inspiring the next John Lennon.
The auction will be held on Thursday December 5, at Adam Partridge’s Liverpool Saleroom on Jordan Street, Liverpool, with the sale commencing at 2pm. The jacket will remain at the Beatles Story until the auction. For further details, please contact Chris Surfleet at chris.surfleet@adampartridge.co.uk or call 01392 719826.