MJ fans scoop up treasures at auction
LOS ANGELES, (AFP) – Michael Jackson fans took home nearly a million dollars’ worth of the singer’s memorabilia a year after his death, including a sequined glove that sold for 192,000, Julien’s auction house said.
The glove studded with Swarovski crystals that Jackson wore during his 1984 Victory Tour was among several trademark items of the “King of Pop” that sold for more than 10 times their estimated value during the auction timed to coincide with the first anniversary of his death on Friday.
Over 200 pieces of Jackson memorabilia went under the hammer at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, including stagewear, posters, signed albums and awards, auction organiser Julien’s said on its website.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal said a woman from Los Angeles took home the glove.
A t-shirt honouring Jackson’s Beat It hit song went for 132,000 dollars, and two custom jackets scored more than 100,000 dollars. A signed fedora hat went for 56,250 dollars, while a pair of signed and worn loafers snatched 90,000 dollars.
Other items also smashed estimates, such as stage worn sunglasses that took 27,500 dollars, original Moonwalk drawings that went for 44,800 dollars and handwritten lyrics for the hit song Bad that left the auction table for 30,720 dollars.
The sale also included items from other music icons, including an Elvis Presley shirt that sold for 61,200 dollars, a Johnny Cash guitar that took in 60,000 dollars and a Jimi Hendrix Fender Stratocaster guitar that went for 180,000 dollars.
Jackson fans around the world marked the first anniversary of his death on Friday, participating in candlelight vigils, slumber parties, a jailhouse memorial dance and other celebrations in honor of the tragic superstar.
The eccentric genius died aged 50 from a drug overdose at a rented Los Angeles mansion on June 25 last year.