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Michael Jackson jacket sells for £250,000 at auction

PA Media A Propstore employee adjusts Michael Jackson's custom-made leather jacket from a 1984 Pepsi New Generation commercial, which is next to George Michael's screen matched La Rocka Jacket from the music video for 'I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)' during a preview for the Entertainment Memorabilia Auction, at the Propstore in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire.PA Media
Michael Jackson's leather jacket from a 1984 Pepsi commercial (right), alongside George Michael's screen matched La Rocka Jacket

An iconic leather jacket worn by Michael Jackson in the 1980s has been bought for £250,000 ($306,000).

The black-and-white garment, worn by the late singer in a Pepsi advert, had been expected to sell for between £200,000 and £400,000 at the auction.

The item was among more than 200 pieces of music memorabilia sold in London on Friday, including a George Michael jacket and an Amy Winehouse hairpiece.

Pieces linked to David Bowie, Oasis and The Beatles also went under the hammer.

Jackson wore the jacket in 1984, in the first of a series of commercials the superstar did for the soft drink company.

Those adverts are mainly remembered for an incident owhich saw Jackson's hair catch fire during one filming session, leaving him with serious burns. He was wearing a different jacket at the time.

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Wham! star Michael wore his La Rocka jacket while duetting alongside US singer Aretha Franklin in I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me). It sold for £93,750 ($115,000) - also including the buyer's premium - as part of the four-day Propstore entertainment sale.

That was significantly more than the guide price, of between £30,000 and £60,000.

Another high-ticket item was a beehive hairpiece worn by British singer Amy Winehouse for a 2007 music video You Know I'm No Good, from her last album Back To Black.

It sold for £18,750 ($22,900), slightly above the lower end of its estimated value.

Other featured items included ones linked to Elvis Presley, Queen and Johnny Marr.

A Gibson guitar that belonged to AC/DC's Angus Young went unsold, as did a limited edition Yellow Submarine Beatles jukebox.

Mark Hochman, director of music and posters at Propstore, explained ahead of the auction that this was the first time many of the items had been put on sale to the public.

Memorabilia belonging to Jackson has previously sold for thousands, including a black fedora hat that he wore just before performing his famous moonwalk dance for the first time in 1983.

That sold at an Paris auction in September for €77,640 (£67,088).