Kurt Cobain’s 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' guitar fetches almost $5 million in auction
Kurt Cobain's guitar
Kurt Cobain is a name synonymous with the world of music and any memorabilia connected to the former Nirvana lead singer possesses huge value to music lovers all around the world. This fact was proven once again this week as the 1969 Fender Mustang Electric Guitar used by Cobain in Nirvana’s famous music video for the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” fetched almost $5 million in an auction.
It was sold to the Jim Irsay Collection of Indianapolis after a bidding war in the auction and this was the costliest item by a huge margin. The left-handed guitar, which comes in “competition lake placid blue” finish with matching headstock, holds special value as it was Cobain’s favourite guitar, and it was even mentioned by the singer songwriter in his final interview with Guitar World.
“I’m left-handed, and it’s not very easy to find reasonably priced, high-quality left-handed guitars. But out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favorite. I’ve only owned two of them.”
The portion of the money collected from the auction will be donated by the Cobain family to charity in support of Mental Health Awareness Month.
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“To have this legendary guitar, one of the most culturally significant and historically important guitars of Kurt Cobain and in all of rock music history return to my home state of Indiana to be part of Jim Irsay’s renowned memorabilia collection is a great honor and personal highlight of my life,” said Darren Julien, president and chief executive officer of Julien’s Auctions.
“This once-in-a-lifetime auction has been one of the greatest privileges in my professional career and I’m duly pleased that the proceeds will also bring much needed attention to mental health awareness.”