Bob Dylan’s 1965 song “Like a Rolling Stone” is legendary; it was even ranked #1 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. This opinion was evident at an auction Tuesday.
A draft of the hit’s original lyrics, written in Dylan’s hand, set a record for highest price paid for lyrics, selling for $2.045 million. This far surpassed the previous record, $1.2 million paid for John Lennon’s lyrics to “A Day in the Life” in 2010.
The lyrics are written in pencil on four sheets of hotel stationery (they were written at the Roger Smith Hotel in Washington D.C.), and are the only known draft of the song still in existence. They feature the final lyrics, some lyrics that didn’t make it into the final version of the song and some of Dylan’s notes and doodles.
Also featured in the auction were two pages of Dylan’s written lyrics for “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” which sold for $485,000, as well as memorabilia from the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
The identification of the buyer has not been released.
Courtesy of Rolling Stone