Garth Hudson’s belongings were sold at a garage sale this weekend by a New York landlord.
Hudson is best known as an organ, saxophone, and keyboard player for the Canadian-American rock group The Band. After failing to maintain rental payments on a Kingston, New York storage space, his landlord decided to sell the musician’s possessions to recoup his losses.
According to Rolling Stone , the instrumentalist has suffered financial difficulties and several bankruptcies throughout the past decade. When Hudson’s home was foreclosed upon in 2002, the musician moved a massive number of possessions into storage.
Originally occupying a 2,000-square-foot artist’s loft, the property was reduced and relocated twice. Mike Piazza, owner of the storage space, claims that years of delinquent payments have resulted in roughly $60,000 to $70,000 in unpaid rent.
The Times Herald-Record writes that Piazza made numerous attempts to collect the debt, including reaching out to Hudson’s former band-mates.
The landlord hoped they might want to organize some type of fundraiser, but claims the band members showed no interest in helping.
When Piazzo’s efforts proved unsuccessful he decided to remove and sell Garth Hudson’s items. He held a garage sale over the weekend for the personal and household objects. He intends to place the music-related items in an auction on April 1.
Among the items Piazza found in the storage space were compact discs, records, and numerous boxes of carefully labeled handwritten sheet music. One of the most unusual finds was a $26,000 check from EMI Records with an issue date of 1979.
According to Piazza:
“It was everything, his entire life.”
Do you agree with the landlord’s decision to sell Garth Hudson’s personal belongings in a garage sale?