MTV gong from the ‘80s sells for more than $15K at auction

Someone wanted their MTV, so they bought a piece of its history.

A gong used throughout the ’80s on MTV was sold at auction for $15,300.

It was famously struck by an upside-down Tina Turner — who used her feet to bang it — when she was a guest video jockey on the network in 1986.

The Paiste steel-hammered lot has the iconic MTV logo emblazoned on its front.

It is believed to be one of two gongs made for the 24-hour cable channel, the first solely dedicated to music when it launched in the Big Apple in 1981.

The iconic piece of MTV history was sold by Bonhams, a privately owned international auction house, as part of its online music auction, which ended Friday afternoon.

Among the other memorabilia included in the sale was a black Texas Hatters Hi-Roller hat worn by Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant in 1976, the year before he, two bandmates, a road manager and two pilots tragically died in a plane crash in Mississippi. The hat sold for $69,675.

An 18K white gold Piaget Emperor watch given to arranger, producer and composer Jack Nitzche by the Rolling Stones in 1965 sold for $21,675. Nitzche played keyboards on several Stones’ albums and songs, including “Paint It Black” and “Let’s Spend the Night Together.”

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The watch was engraved with “To Jack, Thank you, Mick, Keith, Charlie, Brian, Bill & Andrew, 1965′.



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