Kurt Cobain's famous blue guitar to fetch up to $800,000

The iconic blue guitar the musician rocked out within Nirvana’s seminal 90s music video goes up for auction next month

LOS ANGELES:

The iconic blue guitar Kurt Cobain rocked out within Nirvana’s seminal 90s Smells Like Teen Spirit music video is expected to fetch up to $800,000 when it goes up for auction next month. With Smells Like Teen Spirit racking up more than 1.4 billion views on YouTube, the blue 1969 Mustang Fender guitar is arguably one of the most famous in rock, said Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien’s Auctions.

"This is one of the most iconic guitars ever to come to the auction block, this is the blue Mustang Fender guitar, one of Kurt Cobain's favourite guitars of all time," said Nolan, standing beside a display of Kurt Cobain memorabilia at Julien’s Auction’s Beverly Hills showroom. It will be displayed live at the three-day sale at the Hard Rock Cafe New York and online.

"The guitar comes with its original case and, also, the guitar strap, so that's...really important to collectors when they come to the auction to know the originality," said Nolan, who noted that the guitar has stayed with the family since Cobain's death in 1994. The Cobain guitar is the star lot in the auction house’s Music Icons auction, taking place in New York and online from May 20 to May 22.

Nolan said the auction house has conservatively estimated a price range for the guitar of USD 600,000 to USD 800,000 but noted "that's a very conservative auction estimate." The auction house said a portion of the proceeds would go to a mental health charity.

The auction also features other items, including an original Kurt Cobain artwork of Michael Jackson, that is expected to fetch up to USD 40,000 and one of his cars, a 1965 Dodge Dart, expected to fetch between USD 400,000 to USD 600,000.