The guitar was smashed in the early ’90s, while Nirvana were making their classic Nevermind album. It’s now been reassembled, although it remains unplayable.
Cobain signed the guitar, along with fellow Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl. It also features an inscription by Cobain to Mark Lanegam, the late lead singer of Screaming Trees, who was given the guitar in 1992.
Sold for $595,900. A lefty black Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, smashed by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s Nevermind era and signed to the body by all three band members.
Julien’s Auctions “Music Icons” at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City and on https://t.co/tzS6JKuf2p. pic.twitter.com/AXRuScNlcx
— Julien’s Auctions (@JuliensAuctions) May 20, 2023
A handwritten, 1991 setlist from the band’s debut performance of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ sold for over $50,000 at the same auction.
Estimates for the guitar were not much higher, but were blown out of the water at the auction held at New York’s Hard Rock Cafe.
Despite surpassing expectations, it pales in comparison to the guitar Kurt Cobain played during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged acoustic performance in 1993, which sold for $6 million two years ago.
The MTV concert came just five months before Cobain’s death at the age of 27.
