An electric guitar played, smashed and then signed by the late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sold for $486,400, exceeding the estimate of $200,000 USD to $400,000, according to Julien’s Auctions. The 1973 Fender Mustang went on auction at New York City’s Hard Rock Cafe on (November 11. 2022).
Cobain played the Mustang at two shows during Nirvana’s US tour in 1989: At Club Dreamerz in Chicago on 8 July and a 9 July show at Sonic Temple in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania.
He broke the sunburst offset at the end of the latter gig and its remains were swapped for a Gibson SG. Other notable musical items that sold for big money at the auction include Elvis Presley‘s 1972 18k gold diamond-studded Ebel wristwatch, which sold for $256,000; Wm by Bob Dylan. the Knabe & Co. Louis XV grand piano, which sold for $217,600; Prince‘s 1992 Kurt Nelson Cloud model electric guitar with NFT, which sold for $192,000; ‘Granny’ glasses paired with photographs of John Lennon, which sold for $162,500.
The Tupac Shakur artwork was completed for an AIDS Project Los Angeles fundraiser in 1996, which sold for $128,000; and Michael Jackson‘s custom-built Gibson electric guitar was smashed in the “Scream” music video, which sold for $87,500, according to the auction house.
