The comprehensive collection consists of approximately 95 lots, including roughly 80 historic guitars alongside personal amplifiers and studio equipment, with individual estimates ranging from £1,000 to £150,000. Highlighting his charitable nature, Marr will donate 100% of the auction hammer price from ten specific lots to directly benefit The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and The National Autistic Society. Select instruments from the collection will go on public preview in New York from June 25 to July 1 before returning to London for a free pre-sale exhibition in September.
The catalog chronicles instruments that fundamentally reshaped British guitar music, starting with Marr’s co-founding of indie icons The Smiths at just 18 years old. Key pieces from the era include his 1982 Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo, which drove the band’s self-titled debut album and later appeared on the cover of Oasis’ debut single “Supersonic”. The auction’s highest-estimated piece is a 1960 Cherry Red Gibson ES-355, which inspired the music for “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” and later influenced players like Bernard Butler and Noel Gallagher.
The extensive collection also tracks Marr’s collaborative work with acts like The Pretenders, The The, Modest Mouse, and Hans Zimmer. Notably, his 1984 Gibson Les Paul Standard can be heard on everything from New Order’s “Regret” to the 2026 Gorillaz album The Mountain. Furthermore, a custom 2017 Fender Signature Jaguar in “Comet Sparkle” was used to record the Oscar-winning No Time To Die theme with Billie Eilish.
The massive retrospective arrives at a highly active time for the legendary musician. Several of the featured guitars were used to record Johnny Marr’s newly announced solo album, The Age Of Everything, which lands on October 2. Ahead of the autumn release and auction, Marr will embark on a major headline European tour culminating in his largest solo show to date at London’s OVO Arena Wembley on October 24.
