Spoon Bender Uri Geller Splashes More Than $50K on John Lennon’s Famous Round Spectacles: ‘They Are a Passage Into the Soul’
Uri Geller paid more than $50,000 at auction for John Lennon’s iconic round glasses.
Aug. 2 2024, Published 1:23 p.m. ET
Spoon-bending magician Uri Geller spent more than $50,000 on a pair of John Lennon’s iconic round spectacles, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Geller, 77, bought the blue-tinted glasses when they went under the hammer at Farleigh Golf Club through Catherine Southon Auctioneers on July 31, winning a frantic 15-minute bidding war that saw the price skyrocket from its initial $3,800 estimate.
The Israeli-British illusionist and self-proclaimed psychic said he was “elated” by the purchase, adding: “I knew I had to buy these glasses whatever. I would have gone up to £500,000 [$639,900]. Glasses are a passage into our soul, into our psyche.”
The glasses were sold by a man who got them when he visited Abbey Road Studios with his then-girlfriend in 1968.
He befriended the Beatle when they were neighbors in the Big Apple in the ’70s, with the two forming a “really close” relationship.
Geller told the BBC: “John Lennon and I were very good friends while we were living in New York in the 1970s ... we had an amazing connection. John changed my life as that's where I learned about spirituality. He believed in UFOs and I believed in UFOs and he was fascinated by my alien collection. He gave me an alien egg.”
Uri Geller and John Lennon became friends when they both lived in New York City in the 1970s.
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Geller plans to display the specs alongside the alien egg in his museum in Tel Aviv, Israel, which also features curiosities including Salvador Dali’s crystal ball, Mick Jagger’s guitar, Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves and a lock of Lennon’s hair.
Auctioneer Catherine Southon said: “I am absolutely thrilled with the result of the auction of the glasses and delighted that they will be part of such an iconic collection. Uri and John were friends so it’s a great end to this wonderful story.”
The glasses were sold by a man named Michael, who got them decades ago, when his then-girlfriend Penny took him to visit the Beatles’ famed Abbey Road recording studios for his birthday in 1968.
Geller plans to display the glasses in his Tel Aviv museum alongside other Lennon memorabilia.
According to the auction house conducting the sale, Michael recalled: “I picked up a pair of glasses from a piano. Penny said, ‘Don’t touch.’ John Lennon turned around and said, ‘He’s all right. In fact, he can have them. Happy birthday!’”
He added: “They are not John Lennon’s prescription glasses, but he gave them to me and wished me happy birthday, so that is good enough for me.”
They were sold alongside 33 black and white photographs of Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and producer George Martin from visits to Abbey Road in 1968 and 1969 – some of which were taken on the same day as the famous zebra crossing photoshoot for the Abbey Road album cover.
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