It’s one of the most infamous objects in British rock history. A 1960 Cherry Red Gibson ES-355, owned by Noel Gallagher and smashed to pieces by Liam Gallagher in Paris on the night Oasis imploded, is once again the centrepiece of a major music auction.
The guitar is among the headline lots at Propstore’s latest London sale, a collection worth over £3 million featuring some of the most iconic items ever to pass through rock’s turbulent history.
This wasn’t just any instrument. In August 2009, backstage at Paris’s Rock en Seine festival, a furious Liam entered the dressing room and, according to Noel in 2011, was “wielding [the guitar] like an axe.” Within minutes, the instrument was shattered. Noel got in a taxi. Oasis was over.
Music consignment consultant Mark Hochman spelled out its significance: “It’s historic. If you’re an Oasis fan, you look at that guitar and you immediately know what it is. It caused the break-up of the band. Liam smashed it. Noel got in a taxi, and that was it for 16 years.”
Repaired and sold in 2022 for €385,000, the guitar’s value has surged in the wake of Oasis’s record-breaking reunion tour. It’s now expected to fetch as much as £500,000.
It’s not the only Gallagher relic hitting the block. Noel’s Takamine acoustic, used to record Wonderwall, arguably the most instantly recognisable track of the Britpop era, will also be auctioned. “If you ask anybody, name me an Oasis song… they’re going to say ‘Wonderwall,’” said Propstore music specialist Richie Moores. “I think it was the first song from the ‘90s to reach a billion streams.”
Also included: Noel’s Pink Paisley Fender Telecaster, his Union Jack Sheraton, and a complete folder of handwritten lyrics spanning all seven Oasis studio albums. The auction represents the largest Oasis memorabilia sale ever assembled. Hochman believes interest is only going to grow. “Oasis will become one of the most collectable bands,” he said.
And they’re not alone. A pair of John Lennon’s orange-tinted ‘Lost Weekend’ glasses could fetch £300,000, while Michael Jackson’s white fedora from Smooth Criminal is valued between £40,000 and £80,000. Elvis Presley’s trademark Grand Prix sunglasses are also up for grabs, alongside memorabilia from David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix.
For collectors, it’s a chance to own fragments of cultural earthquakes, moments where music didn’t just make history, it bent it.
