The winner of this auction is in a state of Nirvana.
Kurt Cobain‘s guitar from the grunge band’s epic “MTV Unplugged” gig sold Saturday for a record $6 million, Julien’s Auctions reported.
The previous guitar moneymaker was $3.95 million for a Black Stratocaster owned by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, according to Rolling Stone.
Pre-auction bids on Cobain’s 1959 Martin D-18E guitar hit $1 million.
The buyer was Peter Freedman, founder of RØDE Microphones, who attended the live auction in Beverly Hills and successfully won the axe in a global bidding war among those who participated live on the floor, online and on the phone.
Freedman plans to display the guitar in a worldwide tour of exhibitions to be held in galleries and art spaces, with all proceeds (including the guitar) going to the performing arts, the auction house said.
“When I heard that this iconic guitar was up for auction I immediately knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure it and use it as a vehicle to spotlight the struggles that those in the performing arts are facing and have always faced,” Freedman said in a statement put out by the Culver City, Calif.-based Julien’s. “The global arts industry has been shattered by the impact of COVID-19, with musicians and artists being amongst the most affected. The last few months were the straw that broke the camel’s back, and for many in the arts brought forth the harsh reality that they work in an industry for which there is little support in times of need.”
In a live taping for the popular “MTV Unplugged” series on Nov. 18, 1993, approximately five months before his death, Cobain chose the guitar to “paint” what Rolling Stone called “his last self-portrait.”
Nirvana’s acoustic performance culminated in “MTV Unplugged in New York,” which debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts and won the Grammy Award for “Best Alternative Music Album” in 1996.
Accompanying the sale of the guitar, among other items, is its original hard-shell case personalized by Cobain with a flyer from the punk rock band Poison Idea’s 1990 album “Feel the Darkness,” three baggage claim ticket stubs and an Alaska Airlines Fragile sticker affixed to the case.
PageSix reported exclusively last month that the guitar went to auction despite the Cobain family’s best efforts.
The cigarette-burned cardigan Cobain wore in the “Unplugged” special sold for $334,000 in October 2019. It apparently hadn’t been washed since the gig — which, if anything, probably made it more valuable.
In May 2019, the sweater Cobain wore during his final photo shoot with Nirvana sold for $75,000.
A paper plate he ate pizza on and then scrawled a set list on in black marker went for $22,000.
Additional reporting by Tamar Lapin