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David Gilmour‘s fabled “Black Strat” is, once again, the most expensive guitar ever sold at auction.

The Fender Stratocaster Gilmour played on a bevy of classic Pink Floyd recordings as well as during concert performances sold yesterday for $14.55 million at a Christie’s auction of previous owner Jim Irsay‘s collection of musical and cultural rarities.

It first became the most expensive guitar ever sold at auction in 2019 when it sold for $3.975 million as part of a Gilmour’s charity auction that raised approximately $21.5 million for ClientEarth, an organization that funds attorneys and other experts to fight climate change.

Then it was surpassed by the 2020 auction of the Martin D-18E acoustic Kurt Cobain played on “MTV Unplugged,” which sold for $6 million.

The Black Strat is just one of a bevy of items being auctioned through March 17, following the death of Indianapolis Colts owner and collector Irsay last May.

You can browse the collection and watch live streams of the remaining auctions at the Christie’s website.

Addendum (March 23, 2026): Thanks to everyone who completed the 2026 “Floydian Slip” listener survey. We’ve met our quota and will be doing our prize drawing this week.

“The Dark Side of the Moon,” Pink Floyd‘s seminal album from 1973, is approaching 1,000 non-consequetive weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart. It sits at #167 on the most-recent chart, dated Jan. 10, marking its 996th week.

Released in March 1973, “Dark Side” became the longest-charting LP in Billboard history in 1983. It’s held that title ever since.

But for a quirk in Billboard rules that prohibited older “catalog” albums from re-entering the Billboard 200 between 1991 and 2009 — the magazine changed that rule in ’09 — “Dark Side” likely would have passed the 1,000-week milestone years ago.

Its 996 weeks on the chart equal more than 229 months — more than 19 years — otherwise unheard of in Billboard history. The second-longest charting album is “Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and The Wailers” at 920 weeks. “Journey’s Greatest Hits” is third at 890 weeks.

The Billboard 200 became a weekly part of the magazine in March 1956.

Pictured: “The Dark Side of the Moon” debuting at #95 in Billboard on what was then called the “Top LP’s & Tape” chart on March 17, 1973.

Simon Armitage, U.K.’s poet laureate, has released “Dear Pink Floyd,” a poem inspired by the band’s 1975 album “Wish You Were Here.”

“There aren’t many artistic experiences in the form of noise that send shivers up my spine and make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. But when I put ‘Wish You Were Here’ on as a record, and it begins, I get that feeling every single time,” says Armitage, who is also a professor of poetry at University of Leeds.

Armitage’s recital of “Dear Pink Floyd” will be part of the album’s 50th anniversary release coming Dec. 12. It’s available now on YouTube:

The Financial Times is reporting Pink Floyd has struck a deal to sell its back catalog to Sony for approximately US $400 million.

The deal is said to include rights to the band’s original recordings, as well as its “name and likeness.” The publishing rights of the band’s output is not included.

The band has been searching for a buyer for the last couple years. Potential suitors have been rumoured to include Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, BMG, Hipgnosis, Concord, Primary Wave, and Blackstone, a private equity group.

Royalities for Floyd’s recordings are collected by two UK-based businesses: One for work that included band co-founder Roger Waters, and another for work completed after Waters’s departure in the mid-1980s.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, the combined revenue of those two entities was approximately US $50 million.

According to the Financial Times, David Gilmour declined to comment on the sale; and Waters was unavailable for comment. But Gilmour recently told Rolling Stone, “To be rid of the decision making and the arguments that are involved with keeping it going is my dream. …  I’m only interested in it from getting out of the mud bath that it has been for quite a while.”

Thanks to Billy Green for this shot of his “Floydian Slip” stickers in the wild.

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Next month select Pink Floyd fans will have the opportunity to help create artwork inspired by the band’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” — using their brainwaves.

Pollen Audio Group, working with Richard Wright Music and Dolby Laboratories, will monitor the brainwaves of 100 volunteers as they listen to “The Great Gig in the Sky” from Floyd’s “Dark Side.”

“Your participation will involve listening to ‘The Great Gig in the Sky’ in Dolby Atmos while your brain’s responses are recorded using advanced (non-invasive) EEG technology,” according to the Pollen Audio Group’s website. “This process will capture the subtle dynamics of neural activity as it synchronizes with the music, revealing a snapshot of how your mind reacts to this timeless track from one of the world’s most iconic bands.

“What’s truly special is that your brain’s responses will be transformed into an artistic visualization. This personalized artwork will showcase the dynamic interplay between your neural patterns and the music’s emotional journey, creating a tangible and beautiful memento of this unique experience.”

The recordings will be used to create “Brainstorms: The Great Gig in the Sky,” an art installation  that will be open to the public at a London venue later this year.

The brain recordings will take place Oct. 2-6 at Dolby’s Screening Room & Labs in Soho, London. Travel to Dolby’s studio and any other expenses will not provided.

“The Great Gig in the Sky” was written by keyboardist and Floyd co-founder Rick Wright. Session singer Claire Torey improvised vocals for the track, which earned her a co-writing credit on the song decades later.

Hopefuls can apply online to participate. Deadline to apply is Sept. 21.

Legions of Pink Floyd “fans” found themselves in an uproar this past week over the band’s new artwork promoting the 50th anniversary of “The Dark Side of the Moon” album.

With a nod to the original album sleeve’s prism and rainbow design, the logo caused a number of followers of the band’s social media streams to speak out against what they erroneously believed to be a reference to LGBTQ solidarity.

“Sickening,” one user posted. “I used to listen for the music. But I’m done now. Gay propaganda being put into everything.”

“Yeah, cuz I always hear Pink Floyd fans saying ‘I wish Pink Floyd was more gay,'” posted another.

The posts sparked a number of counter-posts mocking the clueless.

Follow the fun: https://twitter.com/pinkfloyd/status/1616083353966444548

(Read more: “50th anniversary boxset and more coming for ‘The Dark Side of the Moon'”)

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