Elvis Presley’s worn Omega wristwatch, gifted to him by Johnny Cash, sold for $103,700 this week.

Goldin, a leading sports and pop culture memorabilia auction house, sold the engraved timepiece as part of its inaugural music memorabilia auction, which closed Wednesday night. Other high-selling items included a D.A. Millings & Son custom suit worn by John Lennon in 1963 ($102,480), a signed copy of Led Zeppelin’s album “Presence” ($19,520) and George Harrison’s sunglasses ($47,590). Goldin also set a new sale record for a type 1 photo — or photo developed from an original negative within two years of when the picture was taken— of rapper Tupac Shakur, which sold for $10,370, according to the auction house.

Though sports and trading card auctions are Goldin’s “bread and butter,” the company is venturing more into pop culture, said head of revenue Dave Amerman. This transition is documented in Goldin’s Netflix show, “King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch,” which premiered in 2023 and was just renewed for a third season.

“We realized that we get so many music items and we build them into our pop culture sales, we just want to separate it and make its own event out of it,” Amerman told The Times.

Source: latimes.com/Lauren Harvey

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Listen! Do you want to know a secret? Screen tests for Sam Mendes' four separate Beatles biopics are officially underway.

Joseph Quinn, who will play George Harrison in the upcoming films, confirmed the development when speaking to his costar Barry Keoghan, who will star as Ringo Starr, during a game of “Sitting Down or Standing Up” with Ebon Moss-Bachrach on BBC Radio 1’s Breakfast show on Friday. As its name implies, the recurring segment sees A-listers attempt to predict whether or not their famous friends are sitting down or standing up before giving them a call and asking them live on air.

“Are you standing up or are you sat down?” Quinn asked, prompting Keoghan to nervously reply, “I’m sat down. What’s happening? Are you pregnant? What’s happening?”

“I’m on Radio 1 and we’re playing a game where I have to call you and we’re guessing,” Quinn began, to which Keoghan interrupted, “Oh! What’s happening, everyone in England, U.K.? What’s up?”

Host Greg James jumped in to explain that they’d decided to give Keoghan a ring-o to see how he was doing. “Is Joe pregnant? Can I be the godfather?” Keoghan asked. Quinn replied, “Yeah, of course. Thank God you were sat down.”

The Stranger Things alum then attempted to hang up, but the Saltburn actor wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye just yet. “I’m on the radio," he remarked. "I wanna make most of this.”

So, naturally, Quinn pivoted to ask if Keoghan was currently in the middle of a screen test for their upcoming Beatles films. In addition to Quinn and Keoghan playing Harrison and Starr, respectively, Paul Mescal and Harris Dickinson are set to round out the remaining members of the onscreen version of the Fab Four as Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

Source: ew.com/Emlyn Travis

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Ringo Starr marked his 85th birthday on July 7 at a star-studded gathering in Beverly Hills, California. The event, which took place in Beverly Gardens Park, was the latest edition of the famed Beatles drummer’s annual “Peace and Love” birthday celebration.

Starr has just posted a recap video of the event on his social media pages. The four-minute-plus clip captures glimpses of some of the 

The guest performers included Jackson Browne, Molly Tuttle, Lucius singers Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, and Sam Phillips. The backing band featured longtime All Starr Band drummer Gregg Bissonette, veteran country/bluegrass multi-instrumentalist John Jorgensen, violinist David Mansfield, bassist Colin Linden, and guitarist Dennis Crouch. Tuttle, Wolfe, Laessig, Mansfield, Linden, and Crouch all contributed to Starr’s country-influenced 2025 album, Look Up.

The video starts with footage of a performance, appropriately enough, of the Beatles classic “Birthday.” Browne, Tuttle, the Lucius members, and Phillips all contributed vocals to the song. The rendition features a slight lyrical adjustment to acknowledge the birthday boy.

The clip also captures Starr arriving to the party in a limousine with Joe Walsh and their respective wives, who happen to be sisters. In addition, there’s footage of Starr chatting with various members of the press. He tells one interviewer from Access Hollywood that the 2025 gathering was “the biggest we had so far.”
The Other Performances

The recap then proceeded to show some of the various other performances. Tuttle played a countrified version of “Octopus’s Garden,” augmented by some fiddle from Mansfield.

Phillips then joined Tuttle for a duet version of Ringo’s chart-topping 1973 hit “Photograph.”

Browne took to the stage to sing the 1963 Buck Owens country hit “Act Naturally,” which Ringo recorded with The Beatles in 1965.

All of the performers joined in for a rousing version of the Starr-sung Beatles classic “Yellow Submarine.”
Other Interview Segments

The video also captured other snippets of media interviews with Ringo. One journalist comments to Starr about the fact that Ringo had recorded a special audio message that was transmitted to the moon on July 7. You can find out more about the transmission at IntuitiveMachines.com.

Another journalist asked Starr, “When you blow out the candles on your birthday cake, what will you be wishing for?” Quipped Ringo, “New lungs.”The “Peace and Love” Declaration … and Birthday Cake!

For the finale of the gathering, Starr came up on the stage, joined by the musicians and performers, as well as family members, friends, and celebrity guests. Among them were Walsh, ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum, and Toto and All Starr Band guitarist Steve Lukather. After the crowd sang “Happy Birthday to You” to Starr, a psychedelic-colored birthday cake was brought out. The cake was topped with a white cowboy hat like the one Ringo wears on the Look Up album cover.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Matt Friedlander

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John Lennon was well aware of his limitations as a guitarist. When asked how he rated himself during a December 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, he didn't hesitate or waffle.

“Well, it depends on what kind of guitarist,” he replied. “I’m okay. I’m not technically good, but I can make it fucking howl and move.

“I was rhythm guitarist. It’s an important job. I can make a band drive.”

There’s no denying Lennon’s rhythm guitar talents. From his chord voicings to his impeccable timing and sense of dynamics, he combined the skills, knowledge and drive that made him one of rock’s greatest rhythm guitarists.

One of his standout moments comes early in the Beatles’ catalog, on 1963’s “All My Loving,” where he pushes the verses along with steady triplet strumming. He does it while flawlessly navigating chord changes every measure on his 1958 Rickenbacker 325 Capri electric, making for a remarkable show of stamina and precision.

In his 1980 Playboy interview, Lennon called the song “a damn good piece of work,” before adding, “but I play a pretty mean guitar in back.”

For all his rhythm work in the Beatles, Lennon played only a few guitar solos. They include the first solo in “Yer Blues,” the lap-steel slide work on “For You Blue,” the bluesy solo breaks on “Get Back,” and the third, sixth and ninth solos on “The End,” among a few others.

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But there’s one solo of his that impressed Beatles guitarist George Harrison above the others. And it’s not even on a rock and roll track — it’s on one of Paul McCartney’s so-called “granny" songs, as Lennon dubbed his songwriting partner’s old-timey tunes.

The solo is on “Honey Pie,” from the Beatles’ White Album. It’s brief — just four measures — but, stylistically, it’s right on the money.

Source: guitarplayer.com/Christopher Scapelliti

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Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono's relationship was notoriously strained even before The Beatles split up, but it was what she later said about the legendary musician that hurt him the most

The legendary Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono, widow of fellow Beatle John Lennon, had a tumultuous relationship that persisted long after the iconic band went their separate ways.‌ The friction between them started when Lennon began inviting Ono into the studio, granting her an up-close view of The Beatles' creative sessions during the recording of their final albums. McCartney, in particular, was peeved by her presence, feeling his bond and musical collaboration with Lennon diminished as Ono became more involved.

‌After Lennon's tragic passing in 1980, McCartney often found himself the target of Ono's sharp words in media interviews, where she made some rather bold accusations and didn't shy away from expressing harsh criticisms about the Jet singer.

In the Peter Jackson-directed docuseries, The Beatles: Get Back, viewers witness a candid McCartney expressing his genuine sentiments regarding the impact of Lennon and Ono's partnership on the band.  Paul McCartney revealed Yoko Ono's harsh words about him

McCartney is captured saying to others in the studio, "See, but their point is that they're trying to like be as near together as they can," referring to Lennon and Ono's desire to remain inseparable. "They wanna stay together, those two. So, it's alright. Let the young lovers stay together. But it's not that bad, you know. We got a lot out of The Beatles, so that if I think John's thing now, if it came to a push between Yoko and The Beatles, it's Yoko."

Source: irishstar.com/Hannah Furnell

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In the early days of The Beatles, the Fab Four often modeled their work and their look after Elvis Presley. They covered several of his songs early on and didn’t hide their appreciation for him. However, after The Beatles broke up and Presley’s act had changed, John Lennon once expressed his dislike for The King.

Over a couple of decades, Lennon had seemingly changed his mind about Elvis Presley. Much of it came down to Presley’s theatrical movements, his over-the-top stage acts, and even the music itself. Lennon explained the lack of love to Rolling Stone in 1971.

“This is interesting: in the early days in England, all the groups were like Elvis and a backing group, and The Beatles deliberately didn’t move like Elvis,” said Lennon. Although The Beatles admired Presley, they apparently didn’t like his dance moves. “That was our policy because we found it stupid and bulls–t.”  John Lennon Once Explained Why He Fell Out of Love With Elvis Presley

The Beatles’ stoic stage act worked for them. At least, for a time. When The Rolling Stones burst onto the scene, Elvis-like movements became the big new thing. “Then Mick Jagger came out and resurrected ‘bulls–t movement,’ wiggling your arse,” John Lennon continued. “So then people began to say The Beatles were passé because they don’t move. But we did it as a conscious move.”

Lennon mentioned that in their early days, The Beatles used to move around the stage much more. “When we were younger, we used to move, we used to jump around and do all the things they’re doing now,” he said. But they quickly decided that wasn’t the look they were going for.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Lauren Boisvert

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