Johnny Marr's guitars from The Smiths for auction

Around 80 guitars integral to his extraordinarily wide-ranging career will come under the hammer at Christie's in London on September 17 

Johnny Marr's 1960 Cherry Red Gibson ES-355 and his Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo 1982. Pictures: Christie's

Johnny Marr, regarded as the guitar genius of a generation, co-founded the groundbreaking 1980s band The Smiths at the age of 18 in 1982. 

Since then, the Manchester-born Irish musician — originally named Maher — has been a member of The Pretenders, the The, Electronic, The Healers, Modest Mouse and The Cribs. He has collaborated with a roll call of greats across indie, rock, pop and film including Pet Shop Boys, Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry, Beck, Hans Zimmer, Oasis, Pearl Jam, Noel Gallagher, Billie Eilish, Blondie, Gorillaz and Franz Ferdinand.