Beatles legend Ringo Starr's drum kit sold for 2.2m dollars at auction

A drum kit played by Beatles legend Ringo Starr was sold for an impressive $2.2 million at an auction Friday in Beverly Hills, California.

The 1963 Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl three-piece drum kit was sold to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, the auctioning house Julien's Auctions stated.

Starr had used the Ludwig kit in more than 200 performances since 12 May, 1963 when he purchased it.

The auction was part of a sale of 800 items belonging to the Beatle and his wife, actress Barbara Bach.

Starr also bade farewell to items such as instruments, career memorabilia as well as personal items .

Among them are seven stage and studio drums played by Starr, including the first Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl drum kit used for the Beatles' early recordings, including "Can't Buy Me Love" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand".

Last month, Julien's Auctions sold a drum head from a kit Starr played on U.S. television show "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964 for $2.1 million.

"We've conservatively estimated this (Ludwig) kit for three to five hundred thousand (dollars) but that was prior to knowing what the drum head would sell for," Darren Julien, president and chief executive of Julien's Auctions, said.

Also for sale was a guitar used by John Lennon, which the late Beatle gave to Starr.

"(We) thought ... we've got lots of furniture, we've got lots of cutlery ... and I thought let's make it really crazy and special ... like John's guitar," Starr said at a cocktail party on Tuesday night ahead of the auction. "It's been played twice."

Part of the sale proceeds will go to The Lotus Foundation, which was founded by Starr and Bach and aims to fund and promote charitable projects, Julien's Auctions said.

The auction ran from Thursday until Saturday in Beverly Hills and also online via Julien Auction's website.