Fleetwood Mac‘s hanging wooden balls, an unmistakable prop worn onstage and on the cover of 1977’s Rumours by Fleetwood Mac drummer and bandleader Mick Fleetwood, have sold for $128,000 at auction.
The iconic wooden balls were part of a recent Fleetwood Mac memorabilia auction at Hollywood’s Julien’s Auctions, which specializes in rare rock items. A portion of the proceeds go to benefit MusiCares, which honored Fleetwood Mac as the organization’s Person of the Year in 2018.
Other items sold at the auction included a Peter Green-gifted 1962 Fender VI six-string bass (which sold for $22,400), a DW Collector’s Series snare drum played on Rumours ($5,760), and an American Video Award given to Fleetwood Mac ($4,480). The auction was streamed live on the Julien’s website.
“Julien’s Auctions is honored to offer this exceptional collection of music history coming directly from the legendary three members of one of the most influential and rock and roll bands of all time,” Julien’s executive director and CFO Martin Nolan said ahead of the sale.
He added, “These pieces from their storied five-decade career represent the mystique and magic of Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, whose renowned musicianship, songwriting, vocal harmonies and camaraderie, have given the world a lifetime of illustrious performances.”
Rumours, widely considered a masterpiece of soft rock, put Fleetwood Mac on the mainstream map with its hit singles such as “Go Your Own Way,” “Dreams,” “Don’t Stop” and “You Make Loving Fun.” The stylized album cover features the ball-hanging Fleetwood alongside his bandmate and Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks. Photographs of the other band members are included on the back cover.
Julien’s “Property from the Collection of Christine McVie, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood and their Fleetwood Mac Archives” sale was held Dec. 3–4 in Beverly Hills, California, per Classic Rock. Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac’s longtime keyboardist and vocalist, died last month at 79.