![BID FOR THE STARS](https://cdn.magzter.com/1422886351/1710748903/articles/KKoHMWYGY1710752498132/BID-FOR-THE-STARS.jpg)
The sidewalks of Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville are filled with people moving among neon-lit venues owned by celebrity musicians: Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk & Rock ‘n’ Roll Steakhouse, Jason Aldean’s Kitchen & Rooftop Bar, Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa. The Hard Rock Café, which opened in 1994, when the neighborhood could still reasonably be called eclectic, sits at the far edge of the strip, overlooking the Cumberland River. One evening last November, Julien’s Auctions took over a private room at the restaurant for a three-day sale in honor of the company’s twentieth anniversary. There was a spotlighted stage full of objects that musicians had worn or touched or played: a scratched amber ring that Janis Joplin wore onstage at the Monterey Pop Festival, in 1967; Prince’s gold snakeskin-print suit, small enough to fit on an adolescent-size mannequin; ripped jeans that had belonged to Kurt Cobain.
In the past year, the fine-art market has cooled, owing to uncertainty about the economy, but prices for celebrity-adjacent objects keep going up. A few weeks before the Julien’s event, Sotheby’s had auctioned off Freddie Mercury’s estate, drawing the most bidders the house had seen in two decades. “There was zero rationality to the valuations,” Chase McCue, the director of memorabilia at Hard Rock International, told me. “His mustache comb went for almost two hundred thousand.” The sale brought in more than fifteen million dollars, nearly quadruple the high estimate.
This story is from the March 25, 2024 edition of The New Yorker.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 25, 2024 edition of The New Yorker.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
![ANTIHERO](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1751212/iZ_mJrjwf1719836837212/ANTIHERO.jpg)
ANTIHERO
“The Boys,” on Prime Video.
![HOW THE WEST WAS LONG](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1751212/Vh1HXqPe-1719836720878/HOW-THE-WEST-WAS-LONG.jpg)
HOW THE WEST WAS LONG
“Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1.”
![WHEEL OF FORTUNE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1751212/Tj0upTIEh1719836581848/WHEEL-OF-FORTUNE.jpg)
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
Taffy Brodesser-Akner weighs the cost of generational wealth.
![TWICE-TOLD TALES](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1751212/FSnHEVQ2G1719836202950/TWICETOLD-TALES.jpg)
TWICE-TOLD TALES
The seditious writers who unravel their own stories.
![CASTING A LINE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1751212/zYjGjav-D1719835755852/CASTING-A-LINE.jpg)
CASTING A LINE
The hard-bitten genius of Norman Maclean.
![TEARDROPS ON MY GUITAR](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1751212/F4QZ49jIU1719835464335/TEARDROPS-ON-MY-GUITAR.jpg)
TEARDROPS ON MY GUITAR
Four years ago, when Ivan Cornejo was a junior in high school, he had a meeting with his family to announce that he was dropping out. His parents were alarmed, of course, but his older sister, Pamela, had a more sympathetic reaction, because she also happened to be his manager, and she knew that he wasn’t bluffing when he said that he had to focus on his career.
![THE HADAL ZONE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1751212/KiyGvpfRQ1719834860480/THE-HADAL-ZONE.jpg)
THE HADAL ZONE
Arwen Rasmont waits hours at Keflavík International for his flight; they call it as he leaves the men’s room. He walks past the mirrored wall and is assaulted, as usual, by his dead father’s handsome image: high-arched nose, yellow hair.
![OPENING THEORY](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1751212/9TQXbGoRi1719833635129/OPENING-THEORY.jpg)
OPENING THEORY
Ivan is standing on his own in the corner while the men from the chess club move the chairs and tables around.
![THE LAST RAVE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1751212/nxcRM0EjJ1719831949168/THE-LAST-RAVE.jpg)
THE LAST RAVE
Remembering a summer of estrangement.
![КАНО](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/8859/1751212/ImfnMwa-x1719830891222/.jpg)
КАНО
I’ve dated all kinds of women in my life,” the man said, “but I have to say I’ve never seen one as ugly as you.”