The words scribbled on paper by Paul McCartney were among about 250 items of Fab Four memorabilia available via Julien’s Auctions of Los Angeles, according to reports.
“It’s obviously a very iconic song that everyone’s familiar with,” Jason Watkins, music specialist for the auction house, told Reuters. “These handwritten lyrics were used in the studio as a guide when they were recording it.”
Beatles lore says McCartney wrote “Hey Jude” for John Lennon’s son Julian, who was 5 years old when Lennon and first wife Cynthia Lennon were separating.
But the “Hey Jude” sale – to an anonymous American buyer – fell short of the $1.2 million paid for John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics to “A Day in the Life,” which were sold in 2010 via Sotheby’s.
Other items available Friday included a Ludwig bass drumhead featuring the Beatles logo that was used in a concert near San Francisco in 1964. It sold for $200,000, City News Service reported.
The auction was initially scheduled for the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City but was moved online because of the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported.