Have you ever heard of The Quarrymen? No? Well, it may shock you to find out that that a vanity record pressed by this group is worth something like £100,000 ($200,000 USD). Even more surprising, the world’s most expensive record is a single—a cover of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day.”
If you’re wondering how a cover by a nobody band could be worth so much, perhaps it’d help to know that three of the band’s members went on to form three quarters of the legendary pop rock group, The Beatles. Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison are all featured on the most expensive record, along with fellow Quarrymen Colin Hanton and John “Duff” Lowe.
Most members of the band attended Quarry Banks grammar school, from which they derived the name. The band lasted until 1958, when Lowe and Hanton left the group. After that, the group went through several names before settling on The Beatles.
Sir Paul McCartney still owns the world’s most expensive record. Record Collector, a magazine, arrived at the £100,000 figure through information from experts, collectors and dealers.
The expensive single also contains an original B-side by McCartney and Harrison, “In Spite of All the Danger.”
