Arctic Monkeys raise £128k for struggling music venues

A guitar belonging to the Arctic Monkeys' front man has raised £128,544 to support independent music venues.

Alex Turner played the black Fender Stratocaster in many of the Sheffield band's early performances.

The money will go to help The Leadmill, in Sheffield, where the band has regularly performed.

Live music venues have been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the government recently announced £3.36m in grants to 135 grassroots venues.

Arctic Monkeys formed in Sheffield in 2002 and during the early stages of their career performed at numerous small music venues around the country and regularly played at The Leadmill.

The Leadmill has hosted performances by other major artists, including Pulp, Coldplay, Stone Roses and Oasis, since it opened in 1980.

It had to close in March due to the pandemic and has rescheduled or cancelled more than 120 events.

Entry to the charity raffle required a minimum donation of £5 and 14,410 tickets were sold worldwide over a two-week period.

In addition to a chance of winning the guitar, all entrants got access to a stream of the band's performance at the Reading Festival in 2006, where Turner played the guitar.

The funds raised will go to the Music Venue Trust and The Leadmill.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]