Sale of Gere's guitars raises nearly $1M for charity

NEW YORK, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- More than 100 guitars and amplifiers belonging to film star Richard Gere were sold for a total of nearly $1 million, Christie's auction house said.

"I never planned to put together a collection," The Hollywood Reporter quoted Gere as saying about the 106 items he placed on the auction block. "I just bought ones that I liked, the ones that sounded good and played well."

Profits from the 102 items sold are to go to support global humanitarian causes, the entertainment industry trade newspaper said.

Among the items to hit the auction block were a 1960 solid-body Gibson Les Paul electric guitar and instruments that once belonged to music icons Albert King, Peter Tosh and James D'Aquisto.