UK Edition
Paul McCartney's handwritten Hey Jude lyrics sell for £731,000 in Beatles auction
Lyrics for the iconic song were among 250 items that eager fans bid for online
Paul McCartney's handwritten lyrics to The Beatles' hit song Hey Jude have sold for $910,000 (about £731,000) at an auction, nine times the original estimate.
The lyrics, scribbled on paper while the group recorded at Trident Studios in London in 1968, were among more than 250 items of Beatles memorabilia offered in Julien's Auctions "Beatlemania" online auction marking the 50th anniversary of the band's breakup.
A vintage bass drumhead with The Beatles' logo that was used during the band's first North American tour in 1964 was another top item, selling for $200,000.
An ashtray used by the Fab Four's drummer Ringo Starr at the Abbey Road recording studios in London sold for $32,500.
In addition, a drawing by John Lennon and Yoko Ono that featured in the couple's 1969 Bed in Peace documentary as part of their demonstration against the Vietnam War is set to sell for about $100,000. A baseball signed by McCartney, Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr from the band's final live US concert in San Francisco's Candlestick Park in August 1966 is expected to sell for between $80,000 and $100,000.
Before the sale, Julien's Auctions music specialist Jason Watkins had described McCartney's hastily scribbled notes for a 1968 studio recording of Hey Jude as very rare and valuable.
"It's obviously a very iconic song that everyone's familiar with," said Watkins. "These handwritten lyrics were used in the studio as a guide when they were recording it."