Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler is putting some of his guitars up for auction

dire straits frontman mark knopfler is putting some of his guitars up for auction

Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler is putting some of his guitars up for auction

LONDON (AP) — Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler will sell off a collection of guitars he considers “old friends” at a Christie’s auction in London next year.

The musician, whose distinctive finger-picking style drove hits for the British rockers including “Sultans of Swing” and “Money for Nothing,” is putting 120 guitars and amps up for sale in London on Jan. 31, the auction house said Tuesday.

Estimated sale prices range from 300 pounds ($375) for an electric-acoustic mandolin to 500,000 pounds ($625,000) for a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard with a cherry red sunburst finish. A 1983 Les Paul that Knopfler played on Dire Straits’ chart-topping 1985 album “Brothers in Arms” and onstage that year at Live Aid has an estimated price of 10,000 to 15,00 pounds.

Knopfler said the collection was the product of his 60-year “love affair” with guitars, but it was time to relinquish “some of these treasured six-string companions.”

“You can be sure I’ll be sad to see them go but we’ve had wonderful times together and I can’t play them all,” he said. ”To you fellow players, enthusiasts and collectors, I wish you many good times with these old friends of mine.”

The instruments will go on public display at Christie’s New York showroom Dec. 9 to 13, and at the auctioneer’s London headquarters from Jan. 19 to 30, 2024.

A quarter of the sale total will go to the British Red Cross and other charities.

The Associated Press

OTHER NEWS

8 minutes ago

Scottish LGBT activists consulted by police about hate crime laws but women’s groups ignored

9 minutes ago

Jets sign draftees Jordan Travis, Isaiah Davis, Braelon Allen

9 minutes ago

Melinda French Gates exits foundation with $12.5bn for ‘next chapter of my philanthropy’

9 minutes ago

Alice Munro, Canadian Nobel Prize-Winning Author, Dies at 92

9 minutes ago

World's 'most advanced' wind turbine testing plant to be built in UK

9 minutes ago

Weight loss drug could reduce heart attack risk by 20%, study finds

9 minutes ago

Spurs struck gold on brilliant star who's worth more than Grealish & Walker

9 minutes ago

National weather forecast for Tuesday May 14

9 minutes ago

Tesla Cybertruck Wraps: Available Colors, Pricing, And How to Get One

9 minutes ago

Biden slams Trump for saying China is 'eating our lunch'

9 minutes ago

Leicester’s season has not been good enough but Dan McKellar needs more time

9 minutes ago

Google just unveiled Veo, its rival to OpenAI's Sora video generator

9 minutes ago

Mets’ Kodai Senga addresses recovery setback

9 minutes ago

These truck drivers have mastered road trips. Here are their pro tips.

9 minutes ago

Pro-Palestinian protesters reach agreement with Harvard University to end encampment

10 minutes ago

American sought after ‘So I raped you' Facebook message detained in France on 2021 warrant

10 minutes ago

Why Tom Hardy & Charlize Theron Fought On The Mad Max Set, According To The Director

13 minutes ago

Use of alert system delayed during deadly flash flooding in Nova Scotia: report

13 minutes ago

New Brunswick family doctors call for legislation to reduce paperwork

13 minutes ago

Sask. campers will face light wildfire smoke on May long weekend: Environment Canada

13 minutes ago

Argos legend remembers his football roots in Guelph

13 minutes ago

‘The Outsiders’ & ‘Stereophonic’ Settle Into Broadway’s Upper Reaches – Box Office

14 minutes ago

Bartender slammed as 'un-Australian' after innocent act at a footy game: 'It's utterly unfair'

15 minutes ago

Meryl Streep says she is 'humbled and thrilled' to receive the honorary Palme d'Or award during the Cannes Film Festival opening ceremony

15 minutes ago

Christina Hall and Heather Rae El Moussa TWIN for spoof video as Tarek admits it is 'confusing'... after weathering nasty feud

15 minutes ago

Paramount Global shares plunge as Sony reportedly rethinks its $26B bid

16 minutes ago

Can Mamata Banerjee secure women vote bank? Watch Preeti Choudhry's report to find out what women said

16 minutes ago

Citadel's Griffin wants to know Trump's running mate before deciding to donate

16 minutes ago

Canada wildfires: Be ready ‘for anything’ after telecom lines damaged by flames, official warns

16 minutes ago

At LIV now, Rahm says 'I'm still a PGA Tour member' and he wants that tour to succeed, too

16 minutes ago

Foehn effect set to bring possible 25C weather to parts of UK

16 minutes ago

Free agent splash Ouellette aiming to bring the thunder for Saskatchewan Roughriders

16 minutes ago

CNBC TechCheck Evening Edition: May 14, 2024

16 minutes ago

LETTER: On George building tragedy, government needs to wake up

16 minutes ago

The Cape Town City Ballet celebrates its 90th birthday with a captivating performance of 'I Got Rhythm’

16 minutes ago

Sheldon Cooper's 9 Best Moments: How “The Big Bang Theory ”and “Young Sheldon” Character Gave Us All the Feels

16 minutes ago

Improved heat pump rebates unveiled by federal and provincial governments

16 minutes ago

Remembering Ayrton Senna’s magic at Monaco

16 minutes ago

World leaders congratulate Israel's 76th Independence Day in the shadow of Gaza war

17 minutes ago

Houston's millionaires, by the numbers