Classic Pop Icons

The red leather jacket worn by Michael Jackson in the classic Thriller video is expected to be the star lot in a two-day Music Icons auction later this month.

The Thriller Jacket was designed by Deborah Nadoolman Landis and given by Michael Jackson to his longtime costume designers Dennis Tompkins and Michael Bush, who used it as a reference for jackets created for Jackson to wear when he performed the song in concert over the years. The inside lining of the jacket is inscribed with “To Bush and Dennis, All My Love, Michael Jackson.” The sleeve is also signed “Love Michael Jackson.” The jacket is expected to fetch between $200,000 and $400,000.

The Music Icons event will include over 600 items, with many other superstar names represented, including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Kurt Cobain, Madonna, Frank Sinatra, Garth Brooks, The Grateful Dead, Ozzy Osbourne, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, The Ramones, Fleetwood Mac and more. Highlights include:

• a stage-worn Denim Jacket from Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run tour (estimate $2,000 to $4,000 thousand)
• Frank Sinatra’s exclusive 1986 Jaguar (estimate $10,000-20,000)
• many Elvis Presley items, including an original TCB necklace (estimate $20,000-40,000) and Gibson acoustic guitar used by Elvis in the movie “It Happened at the World’s Fair” (estimate $20,000-30,000)
• the cape worn by Ringo Starr in the movie “Help!” (estimate $20,000-30,000)
• a wah-wah peddle used by Jimi Hendrix on stage and in the studio (estimate $6,000-8,000) and a recording of “Here Comes the Sun” made in Jimi Hendrix’s appartment, complete with two pages of handwritten lyrics and guitar instructions. This is an original Hendrix composition, not The Beatles’ song of the same name (estimate $25,000-30,000).

Julien Auctions’ Music Icons event runs from June 25-26 at the Julien’s Auctions Gallery in Beverly Hills.