Kurt Cobain’s 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' Guitar Up For Auction At Christie’s

Beginning on Friday, March 6, the famous auction house Christie’s will be displaying a collection of some of music’s most famous memorabilia, including guitars from John Lennon, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Prince, David Gilmour and other stars.  One particular guitar, the one seen 2 billion times on YouTube, and hundreds of times on MTV will also be present – the 1969 Fender Mustang Kurt Cobain used in the famous Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video.  Estimates are arriving at the tone of 5 million dollars.  This possible final number is no rare feat for Nirvana items. 

For years, Kurt Cobain and Nirvana items have gone on auction for millions.  One such item, Cobain’s Martin D18E acoustic guitar, used during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York performance, was sold for 6 million dollars and will be going on tour later this year, being placed in to be determined destinations by the Royal College of Music. 

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” is one of music’s greatest moments in both popularity and influence so it may exceed the 5 million dollar estimate.  Though Cobain smashes a guitar late in the video, that’s not the one up for auction.