The Letter That Ended The Beatles Is Now Up For Auction

When memorabilia from a band’s career ends up for sale, it’s often material inexorably connected to the act of creation. You might see pages of lyrics being put up for auction, or the sale of musical instruments used to record beloved albums or played on countless tours. This month, a slightly different item is set to be auctioned off — one that’s connected to an iconic band, but is instead directly connected to that band’s disintegration.

As Ultimate Classic Rock reports, a copy of the 1974 contract that brought The Beatles to an end — in the legal sense, that is — is currently up for auction. And, based on auction house GottaHaveRockandRoll.com’s estimate, it could sell for up to half a million dollars. As of this writing, the high bid is slightly below that — $100,000, to be specific — but the auction won’t conclude until June 30.

What will the buyer get for their six-figure payment? A typewritten document with six signatures from the four Beatles. (George Harrison and John Lennon signed it twice apiece, in their capacity as it relates to Apple Corps Limited.) As the auction house explains, the signatures were gathered over the course of December 1974, with Lennon signing it last — and doing so while on vacation in Florida.

A Deep Dive Into the Beatles’ “Revolver”

Reassessing the best of the best, with Ringo Starr, Giles Martin, Mark Lewisohn, Mikal Gilmore and Ken Womack

We’re living through a period of renewed interest in the Beatles — not that they had exactly faded into obscurity before. That’s likely to continue, with Paul McCartney revisiting an old John Lennon demo and filmmaker Peter Jackson discussing a second project with the surviving members of the band.