Freddie Mercury notebook tops Propstore sale as Oasis guitar sets record
A notebook filled with Freddie Mercury's handwritten lyrics sold for $365,904 to lead the opening day of Propstore's Spring Music Memorabilia Live Auction in the United Kingdom.
The price includes buyer's premium, the extra fee added on top of the winning bid. Rolling Stone reported the result on 2 October 2026, listing the notebook as the highest-selling lot on day one. In UK currency the same sale was reported as £277,000 by The Independent.
The book was catalogued as Lot #269, the sale number used to identify it in the auction list. It contains lyrics, notes and work-in-progress material linked to Mercury's debut solo album Mr. Bad Guy, alongside unreleased songs. Propstore said the notebook came to the sale as part of The Reinhold Mack Collection, named for the producer who worked with Queen.
Close behind were two very different pieces of music history. Noel Gallagher's acoustic guitar from Oasis's 1996 MTV Unplugged performance sold for $299,376 including buyer's premium. The guitar is a Takamine FP460SC, a steel-string acoustic model, and was owned and autographed by Gallagher.
That sale set a world record for the highest price achieved at auction for an Oasis acoustic guitar, according to Rolling Stone. MTV Unplugged is the long-running television series in which artists perform stripped-back acoustic sets. The 1996 Oasis recording is famous because Gallagher took lead vocals while his brother Liam watched from the balcony.
Michael Jackson's black-and-gold military-style jacket sold for $299,374 including buyer's premium, just two dollars less than the Gallagher guitar. Rolling Stone said Jackson wore the jacket for public appearances around 1991's Dangerous and 1995's HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Volume 1. An earlier preview had given the jacket a pre-auction estimate of up to $475,200.
Propstore organised its Music Live Auction for 1 and 2 October 2026. Day one covered the headline music lots, with bidding in person and online.
What makes this stand out is the tight grouping at the top. A working notebook full of crossings-out and drafts finished ahead of two stage-ready pieces. The figures are close. The paper led.
