Snow Patrol guitarist Gary Lightbody has donated his life-changing Fender Telecaster to children’s charity, Cash for Kids, in a bid to raise vital funds for its Mission Christmas campaign.
It was with this 1978 Telecaster Deluxe that Lightbody wrote and recorded the band's 2006 hit, Chasing Cars, which catapulted them into the stratosphere.
The electric guitar has now been signed by Lightbody and was auctioned off over the weekend during a gala event at the Europa Hotel in Belfast. At the time of writing, it has not been revealed how much money the guitar’s sale has raised.
“This was the guitar I wrote and recorded Chasing Cars with,” Lightbody confirms in an official statement. “I wrote the song in 2005, and we recorded it in Grouse Lodge Studios in Westmeath in early 2006. This guitar was also the main guitar I used on our tours for Final Straw and Eyes Open.”
Cash for Kids’ Mission Christmas campaign helps thousands of children living in poverty across the UK enjoy the gift-giving joy of Christmas, ensuring they have something special to open up on the festive morning.
As of last year, over £15 million (approx $19.8m) has been raised by the yearly charity drive, with Def Leppard's Joe Elliott among its other celebrity supporters this year.
Lightbody’s bandmate Johnny McDaid made news headlines last year when, embodying the spirit of ‘the show must go on,’ he played a gig with two broken hands. He’d already played most of their tour with one broken hand, with his other hand injured ahead of a hometown show.
Though the Tele's sale is unlikely to reach the crazy figures racked up by the world's most expensive guitars, a host of Kirk Hammett's guitars have smashed expectations at a recent auction, which saw his mystery Back to the Beginning SG alone going for $70,000 more than anticipated.
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