Kurt Cobain’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ guitar to be sold at auction — how much it could fetch
Kurt Cobain’s iconic Lake Placid blue Fender Mustang guitar seen in storage at Christie’s auction house ahead of the March sale. Chad Rachman/NY Post
Kurt Cobain’s 1969 Fender Mustang from the legendary “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video is set to go under the hammer at a Midtown auction next spring — with estimates placing its value between $2.5 million and $5 million, The Post has learned.
The guitar will be part of a massive sale of music memorabilia collected by the late Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, conducted by Christie’s in March. “He made the greatest music on this guitar and defined a generation,” Christie’s global president Alexander Rotter told The Post. “This is a piece of American history… I am convinced it will attract fierce competition.”
The sale is expected to draw a record number of music fans to Rockefeller Plaza’s free-to-enter galleries, which previously showcased guitars once owned by Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck. “It’s going to feel like a concert,” Rotter said.
Irsay acquired the Mustang for $4.6 million in 2022, making it the highest-priced electric guitar at the time. Despite scratches and wear, the instrument avoided the fate of many Cobain guitars that were destroyed onstage or heavily battered. A similarly iconic Fender Stratocaster sold in 2023 for $595,000, even though it was unplayable.
“Cobain took care of this Mustang — unlike some other guitars we’ve seen in videos or live shows,” Rotter noted. Cobain himself once called the Mustang his favorite guitar, describing it in a 1991 Guitar World interview as “cheap and totally inefficient,” but adding he loved using his left-handed model live.
The Fender Mustang featured in studio sessions for both Nirvana’s 1991 grunge landmark Nevermind and its 1993 follow-up In Utero. It was previously displayed at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture from 2010 until Irsay purchased it, and later traveled as part of the Jim Irsay Collection — a treasure trove that also includes Elton John’s Steinway touring piano, handwritten Bob Dylan lyrics, a Ringo Starr drum kit, and guitars owned by Elvis Presley, Prince, and John Lennon.
Christie’s will also auction an Elizabeth Peyton portrait of Cobain this Wednesday, estimated at $2 to $3 million. “It’s almost a love letter in portraiture form,” Rotter said, noting the piece was completed a year after Cobain’s death at age 27.
Irsay’s daughters announced in October that portions of their father’s collection would be sold, with some proceeds earmarked for charity. “Our dad was a passionate collector, driven by a profound appreciation for the beauty, history, and cultural resonance of the items he curated,” the family said.
Christie’s is already planning an immersive display for the spring auction, promising a stage-worthy presentation of Irsay’s guitars, with the Fender Mustang positioned as the centerpiece. “It will be an amazing sale of memorabilia that spans generations,” Rotter said.
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