14 Impossibly Expensive Albums That Would Make the Average Audiophile’s Ears Melt Off Their Head
More often than not, I’d pay good money for some British teens to stop playing music. But there are some audiophiles who will pay hundreds of thousands of quid to listen to it forever.
Before The Beatles Were The Beatles
The Quarrymen was started by John Lennon in 1956, but the folk band broke up after recording a demo that some members found dangerously close to rock and roll. That demo was a split of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day” and a song written by Paul McCartney and George Harrison called “In Spite of All the Danger.” McCartney currently owns that demo, and it’s been valued at £200,000.
McCartney Made His Money Back
If he bought it for £200,000, that was a solid investment. He pressed 25 copies of it in the ‘80s, each of which would sell for about £10,000 today.
Mick and Keith’s Excellent Adventure
The first known recording of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards rehearsing together sold for £50,250.
From One Weirdo to Another
An original pressing of “My Happiness” by Elvis Presley — who groomed a 14-year-old for seven years before marrying her — was purchased by Jack White — who pretended his wife was his sister for his entire career — for $300,000 in 2015.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
A copy of this Beatles album that was signed by all four of them went for $290,500 in 2013.
Yesterday and Today
High quality copies of this 1966 Beatles album can sell for $15,000. But one particular sealed, mint condition, “first state” copy fetched $125,000 in 2016.
35,000 Quid for an Audition
Also before The Beatles existed, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison formed a group called The Silver Beetles. They auditioned for Decca Records, who held onto the audition tape and later sold it for a cool £35,000.
Double Fantasy
A copy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s fifth studio album together sold for $150,000 in 1999. I’m sure it’s a fine album, but the fact that it was signed by Lennon about five hours before he was assassinated probably helped.
From One Weirdo to Another (Part Deux)
A test pressing of Caustic Window by Aphex Twin — who claims to live in a bank vault, sleep two hours a night and drive an armored car with a machine gun mounted on it — was sold to Markus Persson — the creator of Minecraft who has been wiped from the game’s legacy because of racist and anti-LGBTQ+ comments — for $46,300 in 2014.
30,000 Bucks for John Lennon Goofing Off
A recording of Lennon singing at a party in 1973 sold for $30,000 in 2008.
A Personally Annotated Bob Dylan Record
A copy of 1963’s The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan sold for $35,000. This particular copy had been owned by his then-girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, and included lovingly handwritten notes on the track listing.
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin
Wu-Tang Clan made a single copy of this album, and it was sold to notorious pharma bro Martin Shkreli for $2 million in 2015. That was the most ever paid for an album — for about six years.
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin (Again)
The Department of Justice seized the album from Shkreli and put it back on the market. It was purchased by a bunch of crypto dorks in a trenchcoat for $4 million in 2021.
The White Album
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin kind of cheated its way to the top of the list by being a one-of-one. The Beatles’ White Album holds the record for the highest price ever paid for a commercially released album — Ringo Starr’s copy, No. 0000001, sold for $790,000.
