Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi’s green Tele fetches more than $150,000 at auction

This year has seen numerous instruments sell at auction for impressive prices, and just before 2019 closes out for good we can add Francis Rossi’s green Telecaster electric guitar to the list of high earners.

The Status Quo singer and guitarist’s Tele was the centerpiece of last month’s Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia Sale, where it fetched £118,812, or approximately $156,485.

Rossi first purchased the Tele second-hand in Glasgow in 1968 for £75, and used it on virtually every one of Status Quo’s singles and albums from 1970 up to 2015.

It was also featured in the majority of the band’s 6,000 live shows, including their performance at 1985’s historic Live Aid concert, before being retired.

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Rossi’s Tele was not the only guitar on the block at Bonham’s. Among the other instruments sold include a Hamer Custom KK Mini V that belonged to former Judas Priest man KK Downing and went for $36,302, and a Zemaitis 12-string acoustic commissioned by George Harrison as a gift for his former manager, Denis O’Brien, for $24,777.

For more information on the auction, head to Bonhams.