Among serious collectors, the popularity of the Fab Four shows no signs of waning as Heritage brought in $1.185 million for a Beatles memorabilia auction that took place on Feb. 24. The auction, titled The Beatles Coming to America 60th Anniversary Music Memorabilia SignatureAuctionwas rich in music and memorabilia that spanned the bands career andbookended a trajectory,starting withan encounter on their first flight to America in 1964(en route to Ed Sullivan) all the way to 1975 andtheir last known sign-off on a record contract(the last time their signatures are in one place),as well asa copy of the White Album once owned by John Lennonandan original set of seven chromogenic color prints of the BeatlesAbbey Roadalbum cover photo session. We were very pleased to celebrate this categorys kickoff auction for 2024, the 60thanniversary of the Beatles coming to America, with another in April, July, and November,said Garry Shrum, Heritages director of Entertainment and Music Memorabilia.We had lots of bidders involved from the beginning. All sold well, from rare vinyl to fabulous autographs to 60s memorabilia and original awards. Tied as the top seller in the event was a true rarity,Abbey Road,the album, is for many aficionados the true desert-island keeper amongst the Beatles albums, and for the albums cover shoot the bandmates took a casual stroll across the road along what England calls a zebra crossing. Theextraordinary portfolio of seven color photographsby Iain MacMillen came from that momentous photo shoot and brought $162,500. The photos, of course, show the Fab Four at the most storied location of the bands history, Paul sans shoes, and were assembled as a very limited edition. While the secondary market shows several single prints from the portfolio, sales of complete sets are virtually unknown, much less unopened in original wrapping, according to Shrum. Tied for that top-selling spot at $162,500was acopy of the White Album (thatotherdesert-island Beatles fave) once owned by John Lennon. Most of the low-numbered copies of the White Album were owned by people with personal connections to the band. Lennon owned this copy and gifted it to Les Anthony, who was at the time of the albums release Lennons personal chauffeur and bodyguard. The third top-selling lot was a also a record-breaker, a graded copy of the ever-notorious1966 butcher cover (A.K.A. Yesterday and Today) sold for $112,500, which is the highest price paid for a slabbed and graded variation of the album.This sealed Mono First State was slabbed and graded 9.0 and came with a copy of the recall letter from Ron Tepper. The fourth highest-priced seller in the auction,a menu heavy with signatures along with some personal photos, came in at a cool $100,000 and was the events charmer with a goodbackstory. In 1964, American teenager Carol Hollensheads father made regular business trips to England and had already brought home word of an up-and-coming act named the Beatles, as well as a copy of the LP Meet the Beatles. Carol was immediately smitten with the music (It was just. better!), and on a subsequent flight, the Feb. 7 Pan Am flight 101 from London to New York, her dad found himself in first class with the lads. They were en route to their stateside debut; in two days they would go on Ed Sullivans TV show in New York, and two days after that play the oversold Washington Coliseum in D.C. During the flight, Carols dad snapped photos of the Beatles along with fellow fliers Phil Spector, Brian Epstein and Cynthia Lennon. The band and its small entourage signed the in-flight menu for him. For complete results on all lots in the sale visit, www.HA.com/7321.