Newsbites: Hendrix guitar sells for £237,000

Hot stuff: Jimi Hendrix swapped his favourite Strat before burning cheaper guitar

Jimi Hendrix‘s favourite Fender Stratocaster sold at auction for £237,000 at the weekend. The iconic musician loved the black guitar so much that he swapped it for a cheaper model just before raising a fire on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. The instrument, sold by former roadie James ‘Tappy’ Wright to fund his retirement, was expected to sell for £120,000.

AC/DC sold a total of 48,000 albums and 696,000 single tracks during the first week of the band’s catalogue becoming available on iTunes. The Aussie giants’ top three selling albums were Back in Black, Highway To Hell and Live At River Plate.

Muse have called off three European shows after frontman Matt Bellamy broke his foot. The band won’t appear in Oslo, Stockholm and Malmo but hope to made their December 10 date in Helsinki. A statement says: “Muse have made the difficult decision to cancel these gigs as they feel that they will not be able to do justice to their live show and the fans who have bought tickets with Matt performing on crutches.”

Led Zeppelin‘s 2007 concert movie Celebration Day will be broadcast in a cut-down format on BBC TV on December 8. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones will also appear on David Letterman’s US TV chat show tonight.

Former Journey singer Jeff Scott Soto embarks on his first European tour in four years next April. It includes four UK dates:
Apr 04: Belfast Limelight
Apr 05: Birmingham Asylum
Apr 06: London Underworld
Apr 07: HRH AOR Festival

Motorhead have warned fans not to buy a new box set bearing the band’s name. Lemmy and co failed to have the Complete Early Years Box Set blocked from release earlier this year. Now the frontman says: “Although we still make money from record sales, this is not the way I ever intended it. I don’t like to see fans getting ripped off or taken advantage of. And that’s what’s happening here. These are fine examples of corporate greed: reissuing the same stuff over and over again, overcharging the customers with outrageous pricing, basically trying to rape our fanbase.”

Paul McCartney‘s childhood ambition of appearing in the Dandy comic is to be realised in the publication’s final print edition. He’ll appear in the December 12 issue, after which the 75-year-old title will become an online-only product. Macca says: “I feel a little sadness. In 1963 in the NME, when asked what my personal ambition was, I replied: ‘To have my picture in the Dandy. I hope it’s not too late.’” He’ll appear in a frame with lead character Desperate Dan. [NME]