The guitar played by Kurt Cobain for Nirvana’s breakout 1991 single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video has sold for $4.5 million at auction, the sellers said Sunday.
The 1969 Fender Mustang Competition Lake Placid blue finish electric guitar was expected to fetch a more modest $600,000, said the seller, Julien’s Auctions. But Indianapolis Colts owner and CEO Jim Irsay plunked down a lot more, not least of all because a chunk of the proceeds will go toward benefiting mental illness. Cobain shot himself in 1994.
“I am thrilled to preserve and protect another piece of American culture that changed the way we looked at world,” said Irsay. “The fact that a portion of the proceeds will go toward our effort to kick the stigma surrounding mental health makes this acquisition even more special to me.”
