Auction in Big Apple Aids Music in Big Easy

Star's guitars & presidential sax in play for music revival in Gulf Coast

An auction held yesterday in the Big Apple raised nearly two-and-a-half-million dollars to benefit musicians who lost virtually everything they had, including their most valuable possessions - their instruments - in Hurricane Katrina. Among the high-dollar memorabilia hitting the block at the "Icons of Music" event was a 1975 Gibson Les Paul guitar used by U2 guitarist The Edge on every tour since 1985. It sold for $240,000, while another guitar donated by The Edge sold for $150,000 to a fan who described the guitar as looking "like it's been through a war."

The auction at New York's Hard Rock Cafe by Julien's Auctions featured nearly 200 other items, including a pair of John Lennon's sunglasses, Jimi Hendrix's 1966 Red Fender Mustang guitar and a saxophone belonging to former President Bill Clinton.

All proceeds will go toward assisting the rebirth of music in the Crescent City and the Gulf Coast via Music Rising, an organization founded by The Edge (aka David Evans) who said his goal was to stave off the decline of music culture in the region.