Ringo Starr’s drum kit sells for $2.1m

Multi-millionaire Indianapolis Colts NFL owner Jim Irsay, 56, shelled out for the three-piece instrument at a fundraiser in LA.

This is the second auction in a month that Julien’s, an auction house which focuses specifically on celebrity memorabilia, are holding in order to sell items once owned by the Beatles.

Now, Jim Irsay has spent $2.1m (£1.4m) on the last piece of his project to reunite the Beatles piece by piece – Ringo Starr’s drum kit.

It featured in more than 200 performances between May 1963 and February 1964 and can be heard in smash hits such as Can’t Buy Me Love, She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand.

Starr and his wife, Barbara Bach, have been putting the items up for sale at Julien’s auction and are making a killing.

The first numbered copy of the LP was rumoured to be John Lennon’s who, according to Paul McCartney, “shouted the loudest” for it when the band made a decision to have the copies numbered.

The auction of Starr memorabilia concludes Saturday. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the couple’s Lotus Children Foundation.

He claimed that the purchase of the drum kit had brought The Beatles “together again” after 45 years.

Mr Irsay, a known collector and huge music fan, also owns famous guitars played by Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton and has 175 classic guitars in his collection.