Kurt Cobain during a performance.
Photo: Getty Images, Frank Micelotta Archive. All rights reserved.
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The Fender Mustang guitar used by Kurt Cobain in the 1991 music video for SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT is up for auction. Those interested can snag them at Julien’s Auctions’ Music Icons sale May 20-22 at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York.
The blue-painted electric guitar Cobain played in the clip is estimated to fetch between $600,000 and $800,000. The auction will also include an NFT by Cobain’s guitar tech, Earnie Bailey. In it, Bailey explains the importance of the guitar. The value should be between 6,000 and 8,000 dollars.
Cobain’s Dodge “Baby Blue” is launched
Other auction items include Cobain’s 1965 Dodge Dart. The vehicle comes from the family: Kurt’s sister Kim Cobain has owned the car, which goes by the pseudonym “Baby Blue”, for 28 years. It will be delivered with the original number plates and a title showing Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love as owners. The estimate is between $400,000 and $600,000.
A portion of the proceeds goes to the Mental Health Campaign
Incidentally, part of the auction is also for charitable purposes: in time for Mental Health Awareness Month in May, Julien’s announced that a portion of the proceeds will benefit the ‘Kicking the Stigma’ campaign to promote mental health.
1959 Martin D-18E grossed $6 million
This is not the first time Julien’s Auctions has auctioned off a Kurt Cobain guitar. His 1959 Martin D-18E guitar was auctioned in June 2020 for $6 million. The guitar was made famous by Nirvana’s MTV unplugged session in November 1993. Cobain carried it to shows until shortly before his suicide on April 5, 1994.
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