The Daily Mail UK has revealed a list of 10 of the most expensive vinyl records ever sold, which shows where the really big money changes hands in the world of vinyl collecting. Unsurprisingly, The Beatles dominate.
1. Wu-Tang Clan: Once Upon a Time in Shaolin – $2 million
American financial criminal and businessman Martin Shkreli reportedly paid $2 million for this 2015 album, of which Shkreli’s copy is the only one produced. This makes it the most valuable and rare vinyl album to date.Shkreli, the controversial former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, hiked up the price of his company’s anti-HIV drug by more than 5000%. He is incarcerated for at least 20 years, and even when he is relased, the terms of the buyer’s agreement stipulates that the buyer (Shkreli) may not release the album for profit for 100 years.He is, however, allowed to release it free of charge.
2. Bob Dylan: Blowin’ in the Wind
In 2022, Bob Dylan sold a new one-of-a-kind recording of his classic hit ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ for $1.77 million at Christie’s auction house. The re-recording features new vocals from Dylan nearly 60 years on from the single’s original release and the backing of a full band.Only one of these recordings was ever made and its creators likened its sale to that of a painting or piece of fine art. Unlike conventional vinyl records which are pressed into vinyl from a master, this recording is recorded directly onto acetate.Acetate is normally too delicate to make records from, but this record uses a sapphire and quartz gradient coating like that used on the International Space Station to protect it from wear.
3. John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Double Fantasy – $150,000
This record was sold at auction for $150,000 in 1990, then sold again for $850,000 to a private collector in 2010. According to the Daily Mail Australia, the reason for this record’s incredible value is that it was signed by Lennon for his killer Mark Chapman only hours before he was shot dead. Lennon and Ono signed the album for Chapman as they left their building in New York on December 8, 1980. The crazed fan stashed the album behind a plant pot before returning to kill Lennon only hours later. The album was found by a passerby and passed to the police as it still contained forensic evidence from Chapman. The police returned it to the member of the public some years later who eventually sold it on.
4. The Beatles: The Beatles (White Album) – $790,000
Ringo Starr owned the first printing of this album, one of the Beatles’ most famous LPs, from 1968. With a print number of ‘0000001’, the second most valuable vinyl record in history was sold at auction in the United States for $790,000.
5. Elvis Presley: ‘My Happiness’ – $300,000
In 2015, prolific musician Jack White bought a test pressing of Elvis’ first recording for a reported $300,000 at auction, which makes it the third most valued vinyl record sale of all time.
6. The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (signed by all four Beatles) – $290,000
A buyer in the Midwest bought an original 1967 pressing of The Beatles’ most iconic album for $290,000 at auction.
7. The Quarry Men: That’ll Be The Day/In Spite of All the Danger
The Quarry Men was founded in 1965 by John Lennon and several of his school friends but soon grew to include Paul McCartney and George Harrison. When the band turned more towards rock and roll many of the original members left and soon evolved into The Beatles. The band recorded a cover of Buddy Holly’s That’ll Be the Day and an original song, In Spite of All the Danger, written by McCartney and Harrison. Believed to be Britain’s rarest record, the original acetate has been valued at $250,000. The record was sold by a former band member in 1981 who produced 20-25 private pressings which have never appeared for sale.
8. The Beatles: Yesterday & Today – $125,000
The age of this release is not the only thing that makes it so valuable – this compilation album is one of the rarest vinyl records in history, having only been released in the US, Canada, and Japan but not the UK or Europe. The infamous “butcher” cover featured artwork of the four bandmates inexplicably draped in dismembered doll parts and raw meat, which understandably was immediately recalled and replaced with much more commercial cover art.
9. The Beatles: ‘Til There Was You’ (10” acetate) – £77,500
The final Beatles album, once called the ‘Holy Grail’ for Beatles collectors and may well be regarded as the record that launched the Beatles because it was created as a demo for EMI who would release their biggest hits. The test disk still bears the handwriting of the manager Brian Epstein and one of the track names ‘Hello Little Girl’ is misspelled on the vinyl as ‘Hullo Little Girl’. The record was actually found in the attic of Les Maguire who said it had somehow come into his possession during his time playing keyboard for Gerry and the Pacemakers. He sold the record to a private buyer in March 2016 for $97,800.
10. Aphex Twin: Caustic Window (test pressing) – $46,300
In 2014, Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, the inventor of cult video game Minecraft, bought a rare release of this Aphex Twin album for a reported $46,300.