Brian May paid £10,000 to fly his guitar out to Los Angeles.
The Queen legend wanted to perform with the instrument at the Classic Rock Awards in Hollywood earlier this week but refused to let the Red Special guitar travel in the hold with the rest of the luggage for fear it would get damaged during transit.
The 67-year-old rocker requested the guitar's flight be upgraded, dropping the staggering sum for the instrument to receive the first class VIP treatment on the British Airways flight from London to Los Angeles.
A source told the Mirror newspaper: "There is no way he would have allowed it to be treated like any other piece of luggage.
"A member of staff and the guitar were bumped up to first class where he had to purchase a seat for it as it couldn't go in the overhead locker.
"It was the only option so he made sure it was treated to the full VIP works. There are few things in Brian's life that he is as passionate about as his guitar."
The guitar undoubtedly means a lot to the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' hitmaker and has remained a staple of his performances since he built it in his father's workshop in Feltham, Middlesex, around 40 years ago.
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