The electric guitar black, left-handed Fender Stratocaster smashed up and signed by the late Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain went for $595,000 when it was auctioned at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City over the weekend (May 20, 2023). The instrument was the headlining item in a three day auction of pieces of rock history. The guitar, which had been reassembled but remains unplayable, was originally valued between $60,000 and $80,000.
According to Julien’s Auctioneers, who staged the sale, Cobain smashed the guitar up “during Nirvana’s seminal Nevermind era,” though no specific details were given. The broken instrument is signed in silver ink by all three of the band’s members: Cobain, Novoselic and Grohl. Cobain also wrote a message on it to his friend and fellow musician Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees saying:
”Hell-o Mark! Love, Your Pal, Kurdt Kobain / Washed up rockstar.”
Engraved on the guitar’s neck plate are the words “Boddah Lives,” referring to Cobain’s childhood imaginary friend. Also up for auction was a Nirvana set list, believed to be handwritten in pink marker pen by Grohl for the band’s April 17, 1991 show at OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington. This was the band’s debut performance of their breakthrough hit, Smells Like Teen Spirit.
The set list sold for $50,800, 12 times the original estimate of $4,000. The auction also featured an oversized poster for the Nevermind album, which sold for $10,400, as well as items from many other famous musicians, including Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Freddie Mercury and Amy Winehouse.
Kurt Cobain (February 20, 1967 April 5, 1994).
Mark Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022)
