A hospital gown worn by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s performance at Reading Festival 1992 is up for grabs. A fan was gifted the gown by Cobain’s widow Courtney Love after his death in 1994. The unnamed seller has held onto it for 25 years, now it’s going under the hammer.
The gown is being sold by Boston-based auction house RR Auctions. It’s set to go under the hammer from March 14th. Auctioneers are expecting to gown to fetch over $50,000 USD. So if you’ve got any mates with a taste for seminal grunge and the stock market, hit them up.
The item listing has shared a heartfelt letter from the seller explaining how she came to own the iconic piece of music history. Read it below:
“A few days after his death, there was a vigil for Cobain at the Seattle Center…About a dozen of us stayed long after the festivities ended. We sat in the Flag Pavilion listening to music…just hanging out among the candles and flowers fans had placed there earlier.
Late that evening, Courtney Love showed up accompanied by Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland with a bag of Kurt’s clothes. She was visibly grief-stricken and proceeded to pass the clothes out while asking trivia about Kurt’s life…She handed me his hospital gown from the legendary Reading Festival performance from 1992. She then cried on my shoulder for a while.
I tried to say something reassuring about his love for her and she pushed me away, insisting that he only loved Frances…The entire incident was sad. And weird. And it blew my teenage mind.”
Watch: Nirvana – Reading Festival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYAIQRPPu5w
Love Music?
Your daily dose of everything happening in Australian music and globally.
Cobain famously wore the gown at a time where rumours about his drug abuse and physical health were circulating. At the opening of the performance, Cobain was pushed onstage in a wheelchair by journalist Everett True. Sporting a shaggy blonde wig and the hospital gown he feigned collapsing. The band then went on to perform one of the most memorable sets in Reading history.
