The picket balls dangling from Mick Fleetwood’s waist on the Rumours cowl had been additionally a part of the sale
A number of Christine McVie devices and outfits, in addition to an array of different Fleetwood Mac ephemera — together with Mick Fleetwood’s well-known Rumours balls — offered at a particular auction over the weekend.
The sale, “Fleetwood Mac: Property From the Lives and Careers of Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood,” came about on Dec. 3 and 4 at Julien’s Auctions. The previously-scheduled occasion coincidentally came about simply days after Christine McVie died at the age of 79. McVie and her crew helped curate the tons within the public sale, and a portion of the proceeds shall be donated to the Recording Academy’s charitable arm, MusiCares.
Amongst McVie’s objects had been the classic maxi costume she wore on the again cowl of Rumours (offered for $56,250); the Thea Porter-designed polka dot hippie costume she wore on the 1976 Rock Music Awards ($31,250); and two of her American Music Awards trophies, together with the one Fleetwood Mac obtained for Favourite Pop/Rock Album for Rumours in 1978 ($16,000). A number of devices and items of kit from McVie’s assortment had been additionally offered, together with the Weltmeister LM-25-12 piano accordion she used for dwell performances of “Tusk ($11,517); a touring Hammond B3 organ marked #1 ($28,125); and a Leslie rotary speaker with microphones ($37,500).
Whereas McVie grew to become the primary focus of the public sale, there have been a variety of different tons, together with the most important of all of them: Mick Fleetwood’s balls. The picket balls dangling from Fleetwood’s waist on the duvet of Rumours had been the top-selling merchandise on the public sale, fetching a whopping $128,000. The balls had been initially bathroom chains taken from a membership Fleetwood Mac incessantly performed of their early years; Fleetwood commonly wore the balls on stage earlier than incorporating them into the Rumours cowl artwork.
Different large ticket objects from the Fleetwood Mac public sale embrace a number of John McVie devices, just like the Alembic Sequence 1 customized fretless bass he used on “The Chain” and the Hamer Crusie bass he used on the 1982 Mirage tour ($25,600). And past his balls, Fleetwood’s customized collapsible purple high hat offered for $10,240, whereas a DW Collector’s Sequence Rumours Icon snare drum he used at his house studio in Hawaii offered for $16,000.
