Kurt Cobain’s electric guitar auctions for nearly $5 million

Rock icon Kurt Cobain’s electric guitar, which he played in his band Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video, was auctioned for nearly $5 million. According to Variety, the Fender Mustang electric guitar was sold to the Jim Irsay Collection of Indianapolis at Julien’s Auctions on May 22.

The guitar was auctioned for approximately $4.5 million, surpassing its original estimate of $600,000.

In his final interview with Guitar World, Cobain had said that the 1969 left-handed guitar was one of his favourites.

“I’m left-handed, and it’s not very easy to find reasonably priced, high-quality left-handed guitars. But out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favourite. I’ve only owned two of them,” he said.

Apart from playing the guitar at various live concerts, the late singer-songwriter also used it for studio recording sessions of “Nevermind” and “In Utero”.

The guitar was previously displayed at Seattle’s Experience Music Project, now known as MoPOP Museum of Pop Culture.

Cobain family will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the auction to Kicking The Stigma — the Irsays’ initiative to raise awareness about mental health disorders and remove the stigma associated with these illnesses.

• Americas