The iconic 1969 Fender Mustang electric guitar that Kurt Cobain played in Nirvana's 1991 music video, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," was auctioned off for nearly $5 million.
The guitar was sold to the Jim Irsay Collection of Indianapolis at Julien's Auctions in a fierce bidding war that saw collectors from across the globe participating in the online and over-the-phone event on May 22, according to Variety. The approximately $4.5 million sale far surpasses the original estimate made by Forbes of $800,000.
The auction coincides with Mental Health Awareness month and the Cobain family is donating a portion of the proceeds from the guitar sale to Kicking The Stigma — an initiative created by Irsay to raise awareness about mental health.
"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."
Cobain took his own life three years after the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video, which featured on Nirvana's "Nevermind" album, and was released on MTV on Sept. 29, 1991. The popularity of the video helped push "Nevermind" to be certified gold.
After Cobain's death, the guitar remained in the family, but over the last 12 years has been lent out and on display at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, which is Nirvana's hometown.
In an interview with Guitar World that was initially conducted shortly after the release of "Nevermind," Cobain spoke enthusiastically about the guitar's design.
"I'm left-handed, and it's not very easy to find reasonably priced, high-quality left-handed guitars," he told the outlet. "But out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favorite. I've only owned two of them."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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