Johnny Ramone's guitar fetches more than $900,000 at auction

[Animous]

 

A guitar played by Johnny Ramone has sold for more than $900,000 (£650,000) at auction.

The 1965 Mosrite Ventures II electric guitar was used for 15 Ramones albums and almost 2,000 performances since 1977.

The axe-slayer was bought by an anonymous collector in the US and fetched the impressive sum when it went under the hammer in Boston at the weekend.

Other items sold in the RR Auction sale included the late musician's Mark-2 signature guitar, which went for almost $50,000 dollars (£36,000), and late lead vocalist of the iconic punk rock band Joey Ramone’s Shure mics used at the last-ever Ramones concert at the Palace in Hollywood on August 6, 1996, which fetched $13,000 (£9,500).

Guitarist Johnny - whose real name was John Cummings - died in 2004 from cancer, while Joey (Jeffrey Hyman) passed away from lymphoma three years earlier.

A friend of the band, Daniel Rey, collected the memorabilia and admitted it was very rare for a musician to use the same guitar to the very end.

He said: "Most guitarists have dozens of guitars they play and they change over different tours every year.

"Johnny used the same guitar from day one to the end, and I think that's kind of unique."

The black and white instrument still plays like a dream.

He added: "It's indestructible. It played 2,000 shows with the Ramones, so it can handle anything."

The original group - best known for classics such as 'Blitzkrieg Bop', 'Sheena is a Punk Rocker' and 'I Wanna Be Sedated' - was also comprised of late bassist Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin), who died in 2002, and drummer Tommy Ramone (Thomas Erdelyi), who passed in 2014.

The surviving members of the Ramones are bassist C. J. Ramone, and drummers Marky Ramone, Richie Ramone and Elvis Ramone.

The Ramones formed in 1974 and dissolved in 1996.

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