Article Source: Sky News
U2 guitarist The Edge is donating his favorite instrument to charity.
The 1975 Gibson Les Paul guitar has been used throughout his career with U2 and has been played on some of their biggest records.
“I wanted to give something really significant that would really mean a lot for me to give. It deserved something that I would miss,” The Edge said.
It is one of the star lots in a star-studded auction to benefit the fund The Edge ;founded to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The charity helps to replace musical equipment lost or destroyed when the storm and floods destroyed parts of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
The Icons of Music auction features 196 rock-related items, including a saxophone signed by former President Bill Clinton, a guitar that belonged to Jimi Hendrix and an original Elvis Presley recording contract.
The Edge’s guitar is expected to fetch up to £40,000, according to the auction website.
“It’s some great poetry to ask the people like myself, who’ve earned a good living from rock ‘n’ roll, to donate items to an auction that would help protect and stave off the decline of the music culture in the Gulf Coast,” he said.
The Edge created the Music Rising charity in 2005 with record producer Bob Ezrin and Gibson chairman Henry Juszkiewicz.
“One of the good things about globalisation is it has created a single international music community, and I feel very much part of it,” he said. “So this doesn’t seem like it’s someone else’s problem. It’s really our problem, too.”
Highlights from the Icons of Music auction will be previewed at the Hard Rock Café, London, from April 11 to 13.
