RINGO´S LUDWIG DRUM KIT SOLD FOR $2.2 MILLION

The Ludwig drum kit sold for over $2,110,000 to Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts.

A drum kit that Ringo Starr used to record some of the Beatles' early hits has sold for $2.2 million at an auction to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay.

Julien's Auctions says Irsay bought the 1963 Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl three-piece drum kit Friday at a sale in Beverly Hills, California. The two-day auction includes over 800 items owned by Ringo Starr and his wife, actress Barbara Bach.

Starr used the kit in more than 200 performances between May 1963 and February 1964. He also played it on recordings including "Can't Buy Me Love," ''She Loves You," ''All My Loving" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

Another drums kit played by Ringo is seen fetching millions of dollars at auction -until tomorrow- as part of a sale of items belonging to the Beatle and his wife, Barbara Bach.

Ringo is bidding farewell to items such as instruments, career memorabilia as well as personal items .

Among them are seven stage and studio drums played by Starr, including the first Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl drum kit used for the Beatles' early recordings, including "Can't Buy Me Love" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Ringo used the kit in more than 200 performances.

Last month, Julien's Auctions sold a drum head from a kit Starr played on U.S. television show "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964 for $2.1 million.
"We've conservatively estimated this (Ludwig) kit for three to five hundred thousand (dollars) but that was prior to knowing what the drum head would sell for," Darren Julien, president and chief executive of Julien's Auctions, said.

"So, today we'd probably estimate it two to four, three to five million just because we think it's such a significant piece of Beatles history."
Also for sale is a guitar used by John Lennon, which the late Beatle gave to Ringo.
"(We) thought ... we've got lots of furniture, we've got lots of cutlery ... and I thought let's make it really crazy and special ... like John's guitar," Starr said at a cocktail party on Tuesday night ahead of the auction. "It's been played twice."
Part of the sale proceeds will go to The Lotus Foundation, which was founded by Ringo and Barbara and aims to fund and promote charitable projects, Julien's Auctions said.
The auction runs from until tomorrow in Beverly Hills and also online via Julien Auction's website.