Madonna's Ex Dan Gilroy Reveals Why She Asked Him Not to Share Her 'Poetic' Love Letters Publicly (Exclusive)

"Anyone who has been in a band knows it's a very intimate kind of relationship," Gilroy tells PEOPLE of personal and musical relationship with Madonna

Madonna’s former boyfriend and bandmate Dan Gilroy is opening up about their whirlwind romance.

Speaking to PEOPLE about his 18-month relationship with Madonna, 66, Gilroy, 77 says, “I met her at a party and we did gigs together. I loved it. Anyone who has been in a band knows it's a very intimate kind of relationship.”

The Breakfast Club lead singer adds about Madonna - who moved into the converted synagogue that Gilroy was living in with his brother, Ed, in Queens, “Aside from if you have a sexual one or a living situation, just being in a band with someone is very intimate. You get to work with each other. You exchange ideas. You have arguments about the material and then you get together and perform it and get a good reaction maybe, hopefully. Yeah, it's exciting.”

Related: Madonna's Dating History: From Sean Penn to Guy Ritchie

Their relationship, both personal and musically, came to a swift end in 1980 when the "Vogue" singer left Breakfast Club - which she formed with the Gilroy brothers in 1979 - to start a new band with her drummer boyfriend Stephen Bray; Emmy & The Emmys.

Over 43 years later, Gilroy, who spent 34 years with his partner Shelley Duvall up until her death on July 11 due to complications from diabetes, is ready to start a new chapter. Gilroy is putting items from his time with Madonna up for sale at Guernsey’s 60th Anniversary Downtown Auction on Sept. 25.

“We’re putting very valuable equipment up for sale,” Gilroy tells PEOPLE about the two guitars and drums that will be available in the auction. “I mean, she’s one of the biggest stars in history and these musical items were the first she ever played — the guitar she learned on and wrote all her first songs on… The drums that she played for a whole year and she played them at CBGB's. I mean, they're pop culture historical artifacts. They have some cultural importance,” he adds.

While these items are certainly special, they weren’t the only Madonna mementos that were meant to be for sale. “Back in the day she went to Europe and wrote me a ton of letters, beautiful love letters,” Gilroy explains.

“She's very private about that. She has a history of not wanting correspondence to be public. But to me, they were just so poetic. So, in exchange for those, we took them off the auction and she signed the equipment.”

Related: How Madonna Got Her 'Madge' Nickname and More Revelations from Extensive New Biography

Gilroy says he hasn’t spoken to Madonna in decades short of a note or a music video set visit but looks back on their time fondly. “It was wonderful,” he tells PEOPLE about the 18 months they spent together. Something Gilroy always knew was that the "Material Girl" singer was destined to fly on her own.

“She got the bug to sing because she would be playing drums at CBGB. But then she would get off the drums,” Gilroy explains. “I would get on the drums and she would sing a couple of songs and there was no going back. She wanted to do it herself.”

The auction will be conducted online via LiveAuctioneers.com and invaluable.com starting September 25

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