David Bowie’s handwritten lyric sheet could fetch £100,000 at auction
By Naomi Clarke, PA Entertainment Reporter
David Bowie’s handwritten lyric sheet for two of his hit songs could fetch up to £100,000 when it goes under the hammer next week.
It documents the late singer’s corrections, drafts and notes when creating his tracks Rock N Roll Suicide and Suffragette City – which both feature on his 1972 classic The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.
The lyric sheet, which has an estimated price tag of £50,000 to £100,000, will be among Omega Auctions showcase sale on November 28th.
It also includes a letter of provenance from the vendor, which states the page dates to final recording sessions of the album.
The letter states it was given to the original owner by Bowie at Trident Studio alongside some other pages of original lyrics, including some which did not survive.
On the side of the page which contains the Suffragette City lyrics, there is a note at the bottom left for the publisher to inform them of two more songs he was considering for the album – It Ain’t Easy and Round And Round.
The former was finally included with the 1972 album while the latter, a cover of Chuck Berry’s track Around And Around, was used in 1973 as a B-side for the UK issue of Drive In-Saturday.
It also states the lyric page was purchased by the present owner in the early 1980s and loaned to the V&A in 2013.
The page remained with the exhibition for five years as it toured the world between 2013 and 2018 and was displayed in London, Toronto, Sao Paulo, Berlin, Chicago, Paris, Melbourne, Groningen, Bologna, Tokyo, Barcelona and New York.
The auction house previously sold a page of Bowie’s handwritten lyrics for his hit Starman for £165,000 in September 2022.
Pioneering musician Bowie died of liver cancer aged 69 on January 10, 2016.
Auction manager Dan Muscatelli-Hampson said: “These are two real cult favourites in the wonderful Bowie oeuvre and Suffragette City has been described as one of his very best.
“It’s an incredible artefact to have and to hold and it is sure to excite the many millions of Bowie fans around the world – just as the Starman lyrics did.
“We are excited to see what it might achieve on the day.”
The sale also includes a lyric book previously owned by Oasis’ Noel Gallagher which has an estimated price tag of £30,000 to £50,000.
Some of the pages feature lyrics to the band’s songs including She’s Electric, Going Nowhere, Step Out Tonight, Rockin’ Chair and Champagne Supernova.
A page containing handwritten lyrics by The Doors frontman Jim Morrison is also in the lot, which an estimate of £10,000 to £50,000.
The sale also features a host of guitars, amps and musical scores from various musicians.
The Omega Auctions showcase sale will run on November 28th.