Kurt Cobain guitar used in 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' video is up for auction

The iconic guitar that Kurt Cobain used in Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ music video is going for up auction.

The 1969 Fender Mustang guitar will be sold as part of Julien’s Auctions’ forthcoming “Music Icons” auction, set to be held at New York City’s Hard Rock Cafe in May (and online as well). It will be the first time the guitar has been sold at auction.

“To see this fabled guitar, one of the most culturally significant and historically important guitars not only of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana’s legacy but in all of rock music history, come to our auction house has been one of our greatest privileges and most distinguished honours,” said Darren Julien, president/chief executive officer of Julien’s Auctions.

In a nice touch, a portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to the “Kicking the Stigma” initiative that aims to raise awareness of mental health disorders (Mental Health Awareness Month is in May). You’ll need to have quite the bank balance to be able to afford Cobain’s guitar: it’s expected to fetch between $600,000 and $800,000 at the forthcoming auction.

Until now, the left-handed guitar had been displayed at Seattle’s MoPOP Museum of Pop Culture. It’s unclear why the decision has been made to auction it off. As this is 2022, there is unsurprisingly a non-fungible token component: an exclusive NFT will accompany the sale of Cobain’s guitar, with the NFT set to feature a 360° digital representation of the Fender guitar.

Items associated with Cobain always do well at auctions. Back in 2019, his vintage green cardigan from Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged performance sold on Julien’s Auctions for a whopping $334,000, despite having never been washed. It was the second time in nearly four years that it was sold.

If you fancy splashing the cash and placing a bid for Cobain’s guitar, you can do so by signing up via Julien’s Auctions to bid. Alternatively, you can simply learn more about the forthcoming auction here.