John Lennon’s 1971 letter pitching a new band to Eric Clapton is going to auction

A draft copy of John Lennon‘s famous 1971 letter to Eric Clapton suggesting they form a new band is heading to auction soon – find out more below.

• READ MORE: Exclusive: new ‘Beatles ’64’ trailer shows the Fabs taking America: “Their music gets inside of you”

The eight-page letter, dated September 29 1971, was drafted by Lennon and includes several deletions and markings – the final version that was sent to Clapton has not been seen by the public, and it is currently unknown how much the final differs from the draft.

The letter is set to go on auction via International Autograph Auctions Europe SL on December 5. Registration for bids are now open, and bids are expected to €100,000 and €150,000.

The 1971 letter – which also went on auction in 2012, though for a far less €22,728 – comes after Clapton had performed with Lennon and Yoko Ono for a short stint in the Plastic Ono Band in 1969 prior to The Beatle‘s official split. Shortly after that, Clapton entered a dark period in his life stemming from heroin addiction retreated from the public eye.

In the letter, Lennon alluded to Clapton’s troubles but never addressed them directly. He also pitched that Clapton and Lennon form a new band, writing: “Eric, I know I can bring out something great, in fact greater in you that had been so far evident in your music. I hope to bring out the same kind of greatness in all of us, which I know will happen if/when we get together.”

Other members of the pitched band would have included Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner, Nicky Hopkins, and Phil Spector – all of whom had at some point also performed with the Plastic Ono Band.

However, it was later revealed that Clapton had turned down Lennon’s offer to form a band.

In recent news, it was recently reportedly claimed that Ono was warned that her late husband was “in danger” prior to his death. Lennon was murdered by obsessed fan Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980 – when he was shot while arriving at his apartment at The Dakota in New York City.

In a new book titled We All Shine On: John, Yoko and Me written by Elliot Mintz – the former spokesperson and confidant of Lennon and Ono – Mintz opened up about the aftermath of the musician’s death and how it affected his wife and his two sons, Sean and Julian.

Last month, to celebrate what would have been Lennon’s 84th birthday, a box set was shared containing “meditation mixes” of his 1973 song ‘Mind Games’.

The post John Lennon’s 1971 letter pitching a new band to Eric Clapton is going to auction appeared first on NME.