The guitar was signed by Mr. Cobain and fellow band members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl
A guitar smashed by the late frontman Kurt Cobain of the American rock band Nirvana in the early 1990s sold at auction this weekend for nearly $600,000 (Rs 4,96,73,100). BBC reported. The broken black Fender Stratocaster went up for auction at New York’s Hard Rock Cafe on Saturday and was bought for $596,900 (Rs 4,94,16,455) by a buyer, whose identity is unknown.
Mr. Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994, destroyed the guitar when Nirvana were working on their breakthrough album Nevermind in the early 1990s. Although the broken instrument has been reassembled, it is no longer playable, Kody Frederick of Julien’s Auctions told AFP earlier this month.
The guitar is signed by Mr. Cobain and fellow band members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, People reported. There was also an additional inscription for Mark Lanegan of the Screaming Trees by Cobain, who misspelled his name on purpose.
It says, ‘Hell-o Mark! Love, your friend, Kurdt Kobain / washed up rock star.”
Sold for $595,900. A left-handed black Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, smashed by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s Nevermind era and signed by all three band members.
Julien’s Auctions “Music Icons” at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City and at https://t.co/tzS6JKuf2p. pic.twitter.com/AXRuScNlcx
— Juliens Auctions (@JuliensAuctions) May 20, 2023
“You can see here the break that happened when he slammed the guitar down, where the neck sort of connects here, as well as down here where he slammed the guitar down. Kurt Cobain, when he was on stage when he played, he was a machine. The man was angry and you felt it on stage. And you could feel that in the way he handled his instruments. This fractured element, in a strange way, from this fractured musician really defined this rough and tumble music era,” said Mr. Frederick.
Two years ago, the acoustic guitar Mr. Cobain sold for $6 million for his legendary MTV Unplugged performance in late 1993.
Mr. Cobain struggled with drug addiction and depression and had a tumultuous relationship with his wife, Courtney Love. He took his own life in April 1994 at the age of 27.
