Johnny Marr is to auction almost 100 of his guitars, including the ones he played on The Smiths' This Charming Man and the Billie Eilish song No Time To Die.

The sale also includes a 1960 Cherry Red Gibson ES-355, given to Marr by music mogul Seymour Stein as an incentive for The Smiths to sign to his label, Sire Records.

The first song Smith played on it was the classic indie anthem Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now.

Speaking to the BBC, Marr said he was letting go of his guitars because, "I didn't like the idea of my studio space becoming a museum".

He received his first guitar - "a little wooden toy thing, bought in a haberdashery shop in Manchester" - when he was just four years old.

He went on to form The Smiths with Morrissey in 1982, defining an entire era of indie music with his intricate, chiming tones - rooted in British pop, while stubbornly avoiding cliché.

Since the group disbanded in 1987, he has become a serial collaborator, working with everyone from The Pretenders and Talking Heads to Bryan Ferry, Oasis, Blondie, Beck, Modest Mouse, The Cribs and Franz Ferdinand.

It was while writing the 2023 book Marr's Guitars that he first decided to offload some of his treasured possessions.

"Making that book gave me an excuse to take all the guitars out and photograph them and take them to a few events. When that came to an end, that period, the idea of them all just going back into storage just seemed very weird," he said.

He realised it would be better if the instruments could continue to provide inspiration for other musicians.

"I thought about people in Belfast or in Dundee or Tokyo owning one of these guitars for the rest of their lives - coming down to breakfast in the morning and really loving and cherishing this instrument.

"Once I got that idea in my head, I thought it was really much, much more, more appealing than them being in some glass case."

And if the auction clears some space to fill with new guitars, all the better.

"I like your thinking," he laughs. "I wasn't going to say that, but I like your thinking."

The 95 lots will go on display at Christie's in New York and London over the summer, ahead of the auction in London on 17 September.

The guitars are listed with estimates between £1,000 and £150,000. Marr will donate the hammer price of 10 lots to benefit The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and The National Autistic Society.

Among the highlights are:

• Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo (1982): As heard on tracks like This Charming Man and What Difference Does It Make. The guitar also appears on the cover of Oasis' debut single, Supersonic, after Marr lent it to Noel Gallagher during recording sessions for Definitely Maybe.
• Green burst Telecaster (1984): A gift from Marr's wife, known for its appearance on BBC's Top of the Pops in May 1984, when The Smiths performed Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now.
• Martin D -28 (1971): A 12-string acoustic on which Marr wrote and recorded Smiths; classics like There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, Well I Wonder and Cemetry Gates.
• Cherry Gibson Les Paul Standard (1984): Acquired for The Smiths' second album Meat Is Murder, this was the last guitar Marr played on stage with the band. New Order's Bernard Sumner borrowed it to record Regret; and Marr played it again on The Gorillaz' latest album, The Mountain.
• Fender Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar, Comet Sparkle (2017): One of the custom Fender guitars Marr designed in 2012, played on his 2018 tour and used to record the Billie Eilish Bond theme, No Time To Die.

Speaking backstage at The Gorilaz' concert this weekend, Marr acknowledged that it would be "emotional" to part ways with his collection.

"But I'm hoping that maybe it'll be somewhat cathartic as well.

"I'm pathologically someone who doesn't really look back, but this thing with the guitars has made me somewhat nostalgic, without a doubt."