Guitar handed to Chuck Berry at concert sells at auction

Auctioneer Luke Hobbs with Chuck Berry's 1964 Gibson Firebird V guitar

A guitar used by rock and roll legend Chuck Berry has sold at auction for more than £20,000.

The 1964 Gibson Firebird V was handed to the musician during a concert at Wembley in 1972 after he broke a string on his own guitar.

The moment was captured in a film of the concert and a photographer took a picture which became the cover of a 2017 album of Berry's greatest hits.

The instrument was sold in Wiltshire for £21,488 - including fees.

Charles "Chuck" Berry, who died in 2017, played the Firebird when a string broke on another guitar

Berry, who rose to fame in the 1950s, influenced generations of succeeding rock stars, with his trademark duck-walk style and a string of hits, like Johnny B. Goode, Sweet Little Sixteen and Roll Over Beethoven.

Riding high in the charts with his hit My Ding-A-Ling, Berry headlined the 1972 London Rock And Roll Show at Wembley alongside Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Bill Haley and the Comets.

During the show's climax, Berry broke a guitar string - and quick-thinking backing guitarist Terry Gibson handed him the Gibson Firebird.

The strap auctioned with the guitar is also believed to be the same one worn by Chuck Berry.

The instrument was being sold by a private collector who bought it from Gibson's family.

Gibson, whose real name was Terry Clemson, was a renowned British guitarist who played with the likes of Gene Vincent and Bo Diddley, as well as his own band, The Downliners.

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