Kurt Cobain’s smashed guitar from 1989 sold for $490,000

• The instrument sold for $500,000 at Julien’s Auction’s annual ‘Icons & Idols: Rock ‘N’ Roll auction.
• Prince’s 1992 Kurt Nelson Cloud model electric guitar brought in $192,000.
• John Lennon’s photo-matched ‘Granny’ matched Elvis Presley’s gold-diamond wristwatch went for $256k.

Over the weekend, a diehard fan of the late, great Kurt Cobain paid over $500,000 to purchase the electric guitar that Cobain played, shattered, and signed. After only two gigs with the tobacco sunburst Fender Mustang from 1973, Kurt Cobain shattered it onstage in 1989.

The auction house claims the performer played the instrument twice on July 8 and 9, 1989, the first time at Club Dreamerz in Chicago and the second time at the Sonic Temple in Wilkinsburg. At the second incident, the guitar was damaged beyond repair.

“Following that performance, the band stayed at Sluggo Cawley of the band Hullabaloo’s apartment, where Cobain noticed a smashed Gibson SG hanging on Cawley’s wall,” Julien’s auction house shared. “Cobain offered to trade it for the Fender Mustang he had smashed on July 9th because he thought he could repair the Gibson SG well enough to smash it again later on.”

Sluggo consented to the exchange, and before the band left for their next gig, Cobain inscribed the Mustang by signing as Nirvana and sketching two flowers along the upper right portion of the pickguard, according to the auction site.

Along the lower section of the body, the inscription says,“Sluggo agreed to the trade and had Cobain inscribe the Mustang, signing as Nirvana and additionally drawing two flowers along the upper right portion of the pickguard before the band moved on to their next show. Along the lower portion of the body, the inscription reads, ‘Yo Sluggo / Thank for the trade / If it’s illegal to Rock and Roll, then throw my ass in jail / Nirvana.’”

Elvis Presley’s 1972 18K gold diamond Ebel wristwatch sold for $256,000 at Julien’s Auction’s annual ‘Icons & Idols: Rock ‘N’ Roll auction in New York. Bob Dylan’s Wm. Knabe & Co.

Brand Louis XV grand piano went for $217,600. Prince’s 1992 Kurt Nelson Cloud model electric guitar with NFT brought in $192,000. John Lennon’s photo-matched ‘Granny

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