Ringo Starr's drum kit sells for £1.4million

Ringo Starr’s drum kit that he played on Beatles hits including Can’t Buy Me Love and I Want to Hold Your Hand has sold at auction for £1.4million ($2.1m).

The white Ludwig three-piece kit was used by the drummer in more than 200 appearances and was bought by Jim Irsay, who owns American Football team the Indianapolis Colts.

The kit was sold by Julien’s Auctions and is one of a large number of lots being sold by Starr and his wife Barbara Bach. Part of the proceeds will go to the Lotus Foundation, a social welfare charity founded by the couple. The auction was held in Beverly Hills and online over the weekend.

Other lots up for grabs were a guitar used by John Lennon, which the singer gave to Starr in 1968, and Starr’s own copy of The Beatles’ White Album, marked as number 0000001.

In September, the first ever contract signed by the Beatles sold for almost £50,000.

Drum hero Andy White dead at 85

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022. 

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