2023-05-04 12:40:25
EA guitar smashed by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain on stage is up for auction this month in the US. The instrument has been reassembled but is no longer playable, Kody Frederick of Julien’s Auctions told AFP. Frederick expects the black Fender Stratocaster to fetch up to $80,000 at auction.
The guitar was signed by all three members of the legendary grunge band Nirvana, made famous by hits like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Come As You Are” in the early 1990s. The cracks from the smashing of the guitar remain visible.
“This broken element from this broken musician” is indicative of the “rough” musical era of the time, Frederick said. “Kurt Cobain was a machine when he was on stage, when he was acting. The man was angry and it showed on stage,” Frederick said. This anger was also reflected in “the way he treated his instruments”.
Cobain struggled with drug addiction and depression and had a turbulent relationship with his wife, Courtney Love. He took his own life in April 1994.
Kurt Cobain’s Guitar: Reassembled, but it won’t play anymore
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Image: AFP
The auction will take place May 19-21 in New York and will include the guitar as well as a list handwritten in pink marker by Cobain for a performance in Seattle, Washington in April 1991. The list is estimated to be worth up to could fetch $6000.
The auction will also include memorabilia from the careers of musicians Freddie Mercury, Elvis Presley, Eddie Van Halen and Bill Wyman.
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