nirvana
Kurt Cobain’s guitar from the ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ video is up for auction
STORY: Beverly Hills, USA Under the hammer: Blue Mustang Fender guitar Kurt Cobain played it in 1991 In the video for “Smells like Teen Spirit” Nirvana instrument is said to bring 800,000 US dollars
A blue Fender Mustang owned by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain is up for auction. It’s not the first guitar by Cobain, who died 28 years ago, to go under the hammer.
The blue Fender Mustang Competition, which Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain had hanging around his neck in the video clip for the megahit “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, among other things, is being auctioned off in the USA. The iconic musical instrument of the man who died in 1994 at the age of 27 is one of more than 1,200 pieces by various artists to be offered at a three-day “Music Icons” auction in New York at the end of May. This was announced by the auction house Julien’s Auctions on Monday (local time) in Beverly Hills.
Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s guitar could fetch $800,000
Cobain’s guitar is estimated to fetch $800,000. It will be offered for the first time in an auction, it said. Part of the proceeds will benefit an aid organization for the mentally ill.
Kurt Cobain’s blue Fender Mustang left-handed guitar is up for auction.
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Other Cobain memorabilia in the auction include his 1965 Dodge Dart vehicle (estimate up to $600,000) and a Cobain-painted skateboard (estimate up to $40,000).
In June 2020, Julien’s Auctions had set an auction record with a Cobain guitar. His iconic 1959 Martin D-18E acoustic-electric guitar fetched over $6 million at auction. Cobain played the instrument at his legendary “MTV Unplugged” performance in New York in 1993, five months before his death.