Published 13:50 IST, May 12th 2020
Kurt Cobain's acoustic guitar's starting bid set for $1 million
Julien's Auction revealed on Monday that Kurt Cobain acoustic guitar will be put for auction with the base price set at $1 million. Read on.
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Iconic rock musician Kurt Cobain's cardigan was sold for a record price of $334,000, which is about 2.5 crores in Indian Rupees, last year. This year his acoustic guitar is being auctioned off in June. The guitar which was played by the rock musician just 5 months before his death for the MTV Unplugged session is expected to fetch about $1 million, which is approximately ₹7.5 crores.
Kurt Cobain's acoustic guitar expected to fetch $1 million
Julien's Auction revealed on Monday that the 1959 Martin D-18E guitar that Cobain played for the 1993 live taping is up for auction. The guitar comes with a case which has a storage compartment that consists of a small suede bag.
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The singer and songwriter performed for MTV Unplugged session in November 1993. He was later found dead at his apartment in April 1994, aged 27. Kurt Cobain's death was ruled as a suicide as he was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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Julien's' Chief Executive Darren Julien said that the guitar has earned its rightful place in history as an instrument which was played by one of rock's most influential musicians and icons in one of the greatest and most memorable live performances of all time. The MTV Unplugged in New York album which consisted of the acoustic versions of About A Girl, Apologies and a cover version of David Bowie's The Man Who Sold The World was released after Kurt Cobain's death. It topped the Billboard charts and also bagged a Grammy.
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The olive green cardigan, which was worn by the musician during the session, sold off for $334,000 at the auction in October 2019 and is said to be a world record for a cardigan by Julien's. They also revealed that the $1 million expected for the guitar is just the starting estimate. The world record for a Guitar was set last year when Pink Floyd's David Gilmour's black Fender Stratocaster sold for USD 3.9 million in New York.
Other Kurt Cobain items which will be up for auction are a metallic silver lame shirt worn for the 1993 music video for Heart-Shaped Box, a typed setlist which he used for the MTV session, and a Fender Stratocaster guitar he used on Nirvana's 1994 In Utero tour. Julien's confirmed that all these items come from people who have worked closely with the musician or from his family. The guitar will be put up for display at the Hard Rock Cafe in London from May 15 and will be shifted to Julien’s Auctions gallery in Beverly Hills from June 15.
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13:08 IST, May 12th 2020