A guitar Keith Richards once allegedly shot a hole in is estimated to fetch $250,000 at auction.
New Jersey’s Gotta Have Rock and Roll auction house has already had a starting bid of $150,000 on the unique piece of memorabilia.
According to Keith’s Rolling Stones bandmate Ronnie Wood’s ex-wife, Jo Wood, the 77-year-old rocker fired a hole through the Gibson 1952 SJ Southern Jumbo Sunburst Acoustic Guitar – which he used to perform ‘Shine a Light’ on tour – following a row with Ronnie, 74, over him playing the instrument in 1995.
The listing reads: “Richards asked where Wood got the guitar from, and Wood said he borrowed it from Mick Jagger.
“Richards was so mad that they took his guitar that he grabbed it, sandwiched it between two pillows, took out a gun and shot it. The guitar not only still has the hole, but also has remnants from one of the foam pillows used to silence it.
“He used this guitar during every single live performance of ‘Shine a Light’ during the tour, and his use and love for the guitar are heavily documented in the Stones’ ‘Totally Stripped’ documentary.”
It wasn’t the only time Keith had brought out a gun during a confrontation with Ronnie.
In his 2007 autobiography, ‘Ronnie’, the musician recalled Keith being furious with him for smoking purified cocaine and proceeding to point his Derringer handgun at him.
He wrote in the tome: “After a row with Keith one day, he stormed off to get his gun. I warned everyone to ‘clear the decks’.
“Keith came back with his Derringer, pointed it at me and yelled, ‘You f****** b****** Woody!’
“But I had my own gun, a .44 Magnum. I didn’t have any bullets for it but I calmly pulled it out. And that was the last time Keith pulled a gun on me … until the next time.”