A number of rare items are being sold from the collection of the late, great DJ John Peel.
The items from the legendary DJ’s extensive collection includes rare records, memorabilia and personal correspondence from the likes of the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and a handwritten note from Freddie Mercury.
There’s also a Mono Pressing LP ‘Two Virgins’, 1968, on offer, which is annotated by John Lennon and Yoko Ono and has an estimate of £15,000-20,000. All such items have been “carefully selected by [John Peel’s] family,” according to a statement.
Peel is widely regarded as one of the most influential champions of contemporary music, who helped promote the careers of The Sex Pistols, Joy Division, Nirvana, David Bowie, The Cure, and The Clash, to name a few.
John Peel passed away in 2004, aged 65, after a life dedicated to music – as a DJ, broadcaster, producer and journalist. In honour of his legacy, ‘The John Peel Stage’ was erected in tribute to him at Glastonbury Festival.
Incidentally, the sale, orchestrated by auctioneers Bonham’s, will be held on the 14th June – the week before the long-awaited 50th anniversary of Glastonbury.
Speaking about the sale, John Peel’s family said: “By virtue of the role he played in it, John/Dad was in a position to have access to many of the most celebrated people and events in the history of popular music.
“This is reflected in a wealth of souvenirs he collected throughout his life. He had not only a voracious appetite for vinyl, but a keen sense of what memorabilia, ephemera and correspondence might find an interested audience in decades to come (though it could be argued that this was achieved by a strategy of keeping almost everything that crossed his path).
Explaining further about how they organised which items would be involved in the sale, they added: “In going through the accumulation of 40 years of pop music moments, we decided that some of the most interesting items might find a home, with fans of his programme or of the artists whose music he played.
“We had no desire to split up his beloved record collection but have included in the sale a selection of particularly rare or unique records that do not take away from the integrity of his archive.”
