The headgear Michael Jackson wore immediately before executing his trademark moonwalk dance for the first time sold for 77,640 euros ($82,170) at an auction in Paris on Tuesday.
The Hotel Drouot auction house has evaluated the black fedora at 60,000 to 100,000 euros.
It was the highlight of about 200 items of rock memorabilia, though the highest price was 129,400 euros for a guitar owned by famed bluesman T-Bone Walker.
At the height of his fame, Jackson pulled off his cap when breaking into his smash “Billie Jean” during a televised Motown concert in 1983.
Moments later, he showed off what would become his trademark move — the moonwalk, a seemingly effortless backwards glide while appearing to walk forwards.
Music memorabilia has become big business.
Lemon Auction made headlines last year when they sold the guitar shattered by Noel Gallagher on the night Oasis split up in Paris after a dispute with his brother Liam. The price of the instrument was 385,500 euros.
This month, a series of auctions for Freddie Mercury memorabilia — including the piano on which he penned “Bohemian Rhapsody” — netted Sotheby’s 46.5 million euros from bids from 76 nations.