A piece of music history is going on sale as the album John Lennon signed for Mark David Chapman, his killer, is up for grabs.
On the morning of December 8th, 1980, Mark David Chapman approached John Lennon outside of the ex-Beatles’ apartment and asked the musician to sign his copy of Double Fantasy, the newly-released album by Lennon and Yoko Ono.
A few hours later, Lennon returned to his apartment only for Chapman to shoot him dead.
Now that very copy of Double Fantasy that John Lennon signed for Chapman is up for auction and unsurprisingly, this iconic artifact from one of music history’s biggest tragedies isn’t going to come cheap.
According to the listing on Goldin Auctions, the bidding will start at a low, low price of $400,000 and is expected to jump considerably.
As for the album’s condition, the cover features Lennon’s signature and the year “1980” written below it. The front and back sides of the album also feature several police markings as it was submitted as evidence during the investigation into Lennon’s murder.
Those with deep pockets and are collectors of iconic music artifacts such as this can start putting money down on Chapman’s signed copy of Double Fantasy tomorrow (Tuesday, November 24th) when bidding opens.
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Over 40 years has passed since Chapman murdered John Lennon and was forever branded a killer, yet the incident remains one of the most infamous in music history.
Despite being eligible for release since 2000, Chapman has been denied parole every time, most recently in August, due to Ono’s fears for her and her family’s safety.
Chapman recently apologised to Ono in September (as per court transcripts) for murdering Lennon, reportedly saying “I have no excuse. This was for self-glory. I think it’s the worst crime that there could be to do something to someone that’s innocent.”
Check out ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ by The Beatles:
