The legendary Pink Floyd lead guitarist David Gilmour had a record-setting auction for musical instruments last week.* According to Guinness, the 123 guitars Gilmour auctioned off made up the largest collection of guitars ever auctioned. The lot, which included the black Fender Stratocaster used during the making of the album Dark Side of the Moon and the song “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” fetched $21,198,250, becoming the “most expensive guitar collection sold at a charity auction.” Then Gilmour announced on his Twitter feed what he was doing with all that money.
I am pleased to announce that all the proceeds from the #GilmourGuitars Sale at @ChristiesInc in New York tomorrow will be donated to the charity @ClientEarth. (1/5) pic.twitter.com/uFJ1CvA6QK
— David Gilmour (@_DavidGilmour) June 19, 2019
Quoting 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, Gilmour said that “either we choose to go on as a civilization, or we don’t.” Gilmour donated the proceeds to ClientEarth, a law-based charity that fights for climate crisis initiatives around the world. Shine on, Mr. Gilmour.
You can watch one of Greta’s Thunberg’s speeches below.
*Spoiler alert: I was outbid on everything.
This is a Creative Commons article. The original version of this article appeared here.
That’s called putting your money where your mouth is. Others are leading the way, while American politicians are running cover for the Koch Bros. and other fossil fuel magnates.