Handwritten ‘Hey Jude’ Lyrics Sell for Nearly $1M at Auction

Beatles memorabilia sold at auction is always popular, even during a global pandemic, as evident with an online auction that took place recently.

Julien's Auctions held an online auction on April 10 that featured over 200 pieces of Beatles memorabilia up for grabs. The item that went for the highest price was Paul McCartney's studio-used hand-written lyrics of "Hey Jude," which sold for a whopping $910,000.  The lyrics were estimated by Julien's Auctions to sell for $160,000 - $180,000.

The lot's description read as follows: "A plain sheet with handwritten lyrics to the 1968 Beatles hit 'Hey Jude' written by Paul McCartney in black felt pen and used in studio for recording. The lines in the lyrics are numbered from 1 through 4, with notations in between such as 'BREAK' and at the end 'Ending. Fading.' McCartney used the lyrics during the recording at Trident Studios, London, in July 1968 and later gifted them to a studio engineer."

While obvious but bears mentioning, how much of a coincidence that Julien's Auctions ended up selling the hand-written lyrics of "Hey Jude" when McCartney wrote the song for John Lennon's son, Julien? Couldn't have planned it better if you tried.