A custom guitar played by Prince at the height of his stardom in the 1980s and 1990s has sold for a staggering $US563,500 ($A825,000) at auction.
The "Blue Angel" Cloud 2 electric guitar skyrocketed beyond the estimated $US100,000 to $US200,000 ($A146,000 - A290,000) it was expected to fetch at the Music Icons sale run by Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills on Friday and Saturday.
Prince played the blindingly blue guitar with the artist's "love" symbol on its neck on his 1984 Purple Rain tour, and it also appeared on the classic albums Lovesexy and Sign O' The Times. He used it into the early 1990s.
Archivists going through Prince's possessions at his Paisley Park home and musical headquarters in Minnesota recently found the guitar, which was thought to be lost during the four years since his death from an overdose at age 57.
A similar Prince guitar sold for $US700,000 ($A1 million) in 2016.
At the same auction, a macrame belt that Elvis Presley wore about 30 times on stage brought in nearly 10 times its expected price, with a final bid of $US298,000 ($A436,000).
An ivory gown worn by Madonna in her 1990 Vogue video sold for $US179,200 ($A262,000).
The identities of the buyers were not revealed.
Items still to be sold on Saturday include Paul McCartney's handwritten lyrics to the Beatles song Maxwell's Silver Hammer.
Australian Associated Press
