Willie Nelson (2014)
Earlier this month, an auction was held in Arizona at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix to sell off items that had belonged to the late Waylon Jennings. One of those items was Willie Nelson's braids. Nelson had a serious hair cut back in the 1980s (when his hair was still red). His trademark braids were given to Waylon in 1983 at a party celebrating his sobriety thrown by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash.
The $37k was steep, but it was not the biggest item on the auction block. According to Reuters, Buddy Holly’s Ariel Cyclone motorcycle, another gift that Waylon got from members of Holly's band, went for $450,000. The Jennings/Holly tie in was a big one. Waylon played bass for Buddy in the late 1950s. The night Holly was killed, Jennings actually was supposed to be with him on the plane but he gave up his seat to J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson because he was sick.
In the end, 2,000 items (offered in 500 auction lots) were on the block. Hundreds of items sold. Those pieces of music history included:
- Portraits and photographs of Waylon
- Costumes worn by Waylon
- Handwritten lyrics sheets
- Signed contracts
- Various music awards
- A pair of Muhammad Ali's Training gloves, gifted to Jennings by the Champ himself ($1500)
- Guitars ($2750 to $10,000)
- Jennings' Rolex Submariner ($25,000)
- Waylon's 1978 Corvette Indy Pace Car ($30,000)
- A Partner desk that was given to Waylon by Johnny Cash ($70,000)
