The 1959 Martin D-18E acoustic guitar played by late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain during the band’s well-known MTV Unplugged performance in November 1993 was sold at auction late last week. The instrument sold through Julien’s for a mind-blowing $6,010,000.
The auctioneer had opened bidding for the famous guitar at $250,000 but offers drove the item’s final price to surpass the $6 million mark by an unnamed buyer, marketing the highest amount anyone has ever paid for a guitar at auction passing David Gilmour‘s black Fender Stratocaster which sold for $3,975,000 last year, and Jerry Garcia‘s “Wolf” guitar which sold for $3.2M in 2017. It’s also worth noting that a 1957 Gibson Les Paul formerly owned by The Allman Brothers Band’s Duane Allman on the Derek and the Dominos‘ classic rock hit “Layla” recently sold for $1.25 million in 2019.
The khaki-colored cardigan which was also worn by the late guitarist during the 1993 Unplugged performance was also sold during a Julien’s auction last October for $334,000.
According to reports, the Martin guitar was previously owned by Cobain’s daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, who gave away the instrument as part of the divorce settlement from her ex-husband, Isaiah Silva.
Other Nirvana-related items sold as part of the auction this week included Cobain’s setlist from the Unplugged concert ($10,240), guitar pedal ($8,960), and lyric sheet ($5,760). Also included was the silver lamé shirt worn by Cobain in Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box” music video ($25,000); a Nevermind poster signed by Cobain, Dave Grohl, and Krist Novoselic ($56,250), and even Cobain’s prescription of Prilosec dated to 1992 ($3,840).
Watch Cobain use the guitar during the 1993 Unplugged performance below.
Nirvana – “Come As You Are” (Live On MTV Unplugged, 1993)
[Video: Nirvana]
[H/T Yahoo News]