Edited by JOHN DALY
Kurt Cobain’s ‘MTV Unplugged’ guitar will be sold at auction next month and is expected to fetch more than $1 million.
The 1959 Martin D-18E was used by the late Nirvana frontman during the band’s 1993 MTV performance will be put up at Julien’s as part of the ‘Music Icons’ sale.
The D-18E guitar will also come with the original hard-shell case, half a pack of guitar strings, three picks, and a suede bag. The auction takes place Friday June 19 and Saturday June 20. Fans can see the guitar starting June 15 at Julien’s Auction Gallery in Beverly Hills.
Cobain’s daughter Frances Bean Cobain lost ownership of in the divorce battle with her former husband Isaiah Silva.
“This important guitar has earned its rightful place in Rock N Roll history as the instrument played by one of rock’s most influential musicians and icons in one of the greatest and most memorable live performances of all time,” said Darren Julien, president and CEO of the auction house.
The guitar will be sold with its original hard-shell case that Cobain had decorated with a flyer for Poison Idea’s 1990 album, Feel the Darkness. It also includes a half-used pack of Martin guitar strings, three picks, and a suede stash bag.
Other Nirvana items to go up at auction include a smashed Fender Strat the late singer used during the 1994 In Utero tour, a silver shirt he wore in the “Heart-Shaped Box” music video, a set list from the unplugged concert, and lyric sheets for “Plateau,” “The Man Who Sold the World” and “Lake of Fire.”
Julien’s Auctions previously sold Cobain’s cardigan worn on MTV Unplugged in New York, which sold for a record $334,000, his In Utero tour Fender Mustang guitar which sold for $340,000, his cardigan worn on his last photoshoot which sold for $75,000 and a Nirvana paper plate set list written in Cobain’s handwriting which sold for a record $22,400.
Take a look at auction details at Julien’s Live here.
