Lennon's hair the highlight of sale - Dec 13 2007
A shorn lock of John Lennon's hair has fetched £24,000 at auction as part of a sale of Beatles' memorabilia built up by a former hairdresser to the Fab Four.

The hair was sold to an unnamed telephone bidder as the highlight of a sale of the Betty Glasow collection of Beatles and film memorabilia held at Gorringes auction house in Worthing, West Sussex.

Accompanying the lock, which is stuck in a copy of Lennon's 1965 book A Spaniard In The Works, is a hand-written message which reads: "To Betty, lots of love and hair, from John Lennon xx."

Recently retired Mrs Glasow, who lives near Worthing, was given the strands of hair having groomed the band's famous moptop styles on their films a Hard Day's Night and Help in the 1960s.

The lot was given a guide price of between £2,000 to £3,000 but bidding spiralled.

Francesca Collin, of Gorringes, said: "It is astonishing that there is still so much interest in the Beatles and the sale goes to prove that John Lennon is still an icon.

"To have some of Lennon's hair along with a signed note from him really does give it fantastic provenance and authenticity.

"Collections of this kind are rare and the hair in particular is a real one-off for Beatles collectors."

All of the winning bidders also had to pay a buyer's premium of 17.5% on top of the hammer price.

Lennon’s life celebrated at festival - Sept 28 2007
Relatives of John Lennon joined musicians, artists and poets at a festival celebrating the life of the former Beatle.

More than 1,000 people are attending The John Lennon Northern Lights Festival in Scotland.

The three-day event is being held in Durness, a tiny village the superstar used to visit on childhood holidays.

The festival features contemporary music, poetry and performance in memory of the late musician.

Artists include Master of the Queen’s Music Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who’s presenting a world premiere of a Beatles Prom with the Royal Academy of Music.

Lennon’s half-sister, Julia Baird, is reading some of his own poetry and Nizlopi, who had a No 1 with The JCB Song, are performing.

Other highlights include a photographic exhibition by Paul McCartney’s brother, Mike.

Lennon’s original band, The Quarrymen, are also performing.

During the festival a plaque is being unveiled at the croft house where Lennon stayed during his holidays.

Organisers said people have travelled from across the world for the event.

A pokesman said: "We have proved that by staging this festival in the remotest part of Britain an arts festival of this stature can be held every year.

"Some people called it an impossible festival because of the logistics.

"However, it has been made possible in the spirit of one of the greatest artists of this century."

Lennon was greatly inspired by Durness, which is said to be part of the inspiration for The Beatles’ song In My Life.

The late star returned there with his wife, Yoko Ono, son, Julian, and Yoko’s daughter, Kyoko, in 1969.



Lennon’s glasses to fetch a million? - July 13 2007
A pair of John Lennon’s trademark glasses are expected to fetch £1 million in an online bidding war - despite having no lenses.

The gold-rimmed specs, which John presented to his Japanese interpreter Junishi Yore in Tokyo in 1966, have sparked a global bidding war on music memorabilia site www.991.com.