Kurt Cobain’s untimely death at just 27 years old shocked the music scene.
Despite his relatively short career, he has still made his mark and influenced a new generation of musicians. In a way, Cobain is alive and well today as his memory and legacy carry on.
In fact, the grunge pioneer just broke some world records as one of his acoustic guitars was auctioned off for a mind-boggling price.
Record-Breaking Ax
The guitar in question is a 1959 Martin D-18E that the rocker played during his band Nirvana’s ‘MTV Unplugged’ performance in 1993. Cobain died just a couple of months after the televised gig.
The auction was organized by Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, California, and saw the prized memorabilia sell for a whopping $6 million after opening at $1 million. Peter Freedman, who co-founded Røde Microphones, won in the bidding.
The sale easily beat the previous world record held by a Stratocaster guitar that sold for $3.95 million. The said ax once belonged to Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour.
Nirvana Memorabilia
The guitar wasn’t the only Nirvana memorabilia sold at the auction, though. The event also saw a setlist from the same Unplugged performance and a typed copy of the lyrics to the David Bowie song ‘The Man Who Sold the World’, which the band also played during the now-iconic MTV gig.
During the performance, Cobain was joined by bandmates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic. Guitarist Pat Smear, who was a frequent collaborator of Nirvana, also backed Cobain’s vocals.
Before breaking into the mainstream in the ‘90s, the band was an active part of Seattle’s grunge scene.
Musical Legends
The same auction event also featured items from other rock legends like Prince and Elvis Presley.
A day before Cobain’s guitar was sold, a blue guitar played by Prince during the height of his career in the ‘80s fetched $563,500. The price exceeded the $200,000 Julien’s Auction was expecting to get for the guitar, which was actually thought to be lost for years after Prince’s death in 2016.
Meanwhile, Presley’s macrame belt sold for $298,000. The item, which was reportedly worn by the King of Rock and Roll many times on stage, fetched ten times its anticipated sale price.