29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Jim Irsay left behind 'greatest guitar collection on Earth.' What happens to it now?
INDIANAPOLIS -- As Jim Irsay immersed himself in professional football for the past four decades, first as general manager of the Indianapolis Colts and then as owner, he always had a side gig -- rock 'n' roll relic collector extraordinaire. Especially guitars.
Irsay amassed a colossal collection of guitars (199 to be exact) and other musical instruments, spending tens of millions of dollars on what Guitar Magazine once called "the greatest guitar collection on Earth."
When Irsay died last week, many of the instruments in the collection were on loan throughout the country, including at the "Amped at IU" exhibit at Indiana University and at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle for "Never Turn Back: Echoes of African American Music."
The items in those exhibits will remain at those locations until the displays are scheduled to end.
The long-term plan for The Jim Irsay Collection, which also includes artifacts of American history and pop culture, has not been determined. The team told IndyStar on Wednesday it would be "getting more info on the collection in the coming weeks."
Irsay had a penchant for obtaining rare musical instruments and items that were used by some of the greatest artists in history. Among them: Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Prince, Eric Clapton, Sir Elton John, Jerry Garcia, Les Paul, David Gilmour, Jim Morrison, Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, The Edge, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain.
But Irsay's collection goes beyond music and includes eclectic items like an Apple II manual signed by Steve Jobs, Hunter S. Thompson's Red Shark convertible and Jack Kerouac's original typewritten manuscript of "On The Road."
Experts have valued the collection at close to $1 billion, should it ever be sold in its entirety.
'My purpose in building this collection," Irsay wrote on his collection's website, "is to preserve, protect and share items that tell inspiring stories about dreaming big, overcoming obstacles and accomplishing great things in life."
The "Amped at IU" exhibit includes pieces from Irsay's collection that help illustrate the instrument's history, including an 1850s CF Martin, a 1910 Gibson U Harp, 1939 Rickenbacker Silver Hawaiian Lap Steel and more. The display also feature artifacts from The Beatles, their manager Brian Epstein, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash and others.
Details: "Amped at IU" runs through September at University Collections at McCalla, 525 E. 9th St. in Bloomington. McCalla's galleries are open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
The "Never Turn Back: Echoes of African American Music" includes three items Irsay loaned to the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle -- James Brown's stage-worn, red sequined cape from the 1960s and 1970s, John Coltrane's 1966 Yamaha alto saxophone and Miles Davis' 1980 Martin Committee trumpet.
The exhibit explores "the rich legacy of African American music, tracing the deep cultural roots of gospel, blues, jazz and soul. Through evocative photography, rare concert flyers, instruments and costumes, the exhibit showcases the profound influence of Black communities on the evolution of these genres."
Details: Runs through early 2027 at the Museum of Pop Culture, 325 5th Ave N, Seattle, WA. Info and tickets
