On February 17, 1999, Eric Clapton announced that he would be putting a portion of his vast guitar collection up for auction to benefit the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a drug and alcohol treatment center founded by Clapton in 1998.  Soon after, on June 24, Christie’s New York held “A Selection of Eric Clapton’s Guitars – In Aid of the Crossroads Centre” featuring 100 of Clapton’s guitars.  In total, the auction raised roughly $5 million for the Centre.

June 24, 2004, the fifth anniversary of the inaugural auction, saw Clapton offer up 56 of his most prized guitars to aid his Crossroads Centre once more. Additionally, other notable musicians such as The Who’s Pete Townshend donated instruments.

Included in the “Crossroads Guitar Auction: Eric Clapton and Friends for the Crossroads Centre” was Clapton’s infamous composite 1956 Fender Stratocaster, the guitar he used from 1970-1985 and the one most closely associated with the him.  Setting a record as the most expensive guitar sold in an auction, ‘Blackie’ went to Guitar Center, Inc. for $959,500.

Guitar Center, Inc. also beat out its bidding competitors for Clapton’s 1964 cherry-red Gibson ES-355, the second electric guitar he ever owned, for a price of $847,500.  Likewise, the Gibson, which had been with Clapton at every stage of his career, set a record as the most expensive Gibson to be sold in an auction.  In total, the 88 items up for auction on June 24, 2004, sold for $7,438,624.