A guitar owned by Kurt Cobain and played at his last show before his death will go up for auction with an estimated price of £1-2 million ($1.2 to $2.4 million).
Known as the Skystang I the Fender Mustang was played by Cobain over the tour for Nirvana’s album “In Utero” – and was the guitar he played during his last ever concert before his suicide in 1994.
Nirvana’s final show on 1 March took place in Munich, Germany, and was fraught with technical issues – even being struck with a power outage during their rendition of “Come As You Are.”
The iconic blue guitar was played for around 53 dates on Nirvana’s In Utero tour, with the iconic Heart-Shaped Box being the last song publicly performed on the instrument.
In an interview with Guitar World in 1991, Cobain called the Fender Mustang his “favorite” guitar model – owning several left-handed models from the brand.
Allegedly gifted to Kurt by then-wife Courtney Love, the guitar is expected to fetch between $1-2 million at auction.
The “Played, Worn and Torn” auction will be held from 16-18 November by Julien’s Auctions at the Hard Rock Café in Nashville, TN, but will also be online at Julien’s Love.
Over 1,000 pieces of rock and roll history will go on sale – including a racing jacket worn by Elvis Presley in the 1968 musical Speedway, a concert outfit worn by Prince on tour between 1997-1998, and Vince Neil of Motley Crue’s infamous black leather glove.
Also up for auction will be ZZ Top Front man Billy Gibbons’ 2013 red Gibson, a replica of Eddie Van Halen’s handcrafted ‘Frankenstein’ guitar, and a Pearl kickdrum used by Dave Grohl on Queens of the Stone Age’s 2002 album Songs For the Deaf.
“The lineup features the most important guitars ever to be offered at auction – Eric Clapton’s ‘The Fool’ and Kurt Cobain’s ‘SkyStang,” said a spokesperson from Julien’s Auction.
“There will be rare rock relics from the likes of the Foo Fighters, Guns N’ Roses, Motley Crue, Elton John, George Michael, The Police and more. There will also be new, uncovered items from Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, Eddie Van Halen, Frank Zappa, Dee Dee Ramone and others,” he added.
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