Kurt Cobain\u2019s most famous guitar\u2014as in, the one from the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video\u2014is headed for auction in New York next spring. But before it goes to the highest bidder, fans can get up close to the teal left-handed 1969 Fender Competition Mustang that helped redefine rock music. Christie\u2019s announced that the guitar that Cobain\u00a0used on both Nevermind and In Utero will go on public exhibition before hitting the auction block in March 2026, part of the sale of the late business man Jim Irsay\u2019s sprawling and famously eclectic collection.<\/p>\n
RECOMMENDED:<\/strong> An exhibit of late actor Gene Hackman\u2019s works is happening in NYC<\/a><\/p>\n Irsay\u2019s holdings, amassed over decades and considered one of the most significant private collections of music history in the world, include guitars and artifacts associated with a\u00a0staggering\u00a0list of icons: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Janis Joplin, David Gilmour and dozens more. Guitar World even described it as \u201cThe Greatest Guitar Collection on Earth.\u201d The upcoming auction will also\u00a0include pieces from Elton John, Ringo Starr, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Jim Morrison, offering a tour through the last century of music.<\/p>\n Cobain\u2019s\u00a0guitar is expected to fetch between $2.5 and $5 million. Purchased from Voltage Guitars in Los Angeles around 1990 or 1991,\u00a0Cobain played the\u00a0instrument in the studio\u00a0on both Nirvana\u2019s breakout album and its rawer sophomore work.\u00a0It also appeared with Cobain\u00a0at several live performances. Its most indelible moment, though, remains the \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit\u201d video, where Cobain thrashes through the song in a high school gym. The video became an MTV staple, landed on its list of the \u201c100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made,\u201d and continues to introduce new fans to the band more than three decades later, with more than a billion views on YouTube.<\/p>\n The guitar will be displayed at Christie\u2019s Rockefeller Center galleries in early 2026, with additional details about the sales to be announced in the coming months. Visitors can view the exhibition free of charge, and those eager for updates on timing and related events can\u00a0sign up at christies.com\/irsay<\/a>.<\/p>\n This announcement arrives the same week Christie\u2019s is offering a different tribute to Cobain: \u201cKurt,\u201d a 1995 Elizabeth Peyton portrait created one year after his death. Part of Peyton\u2019s celebrated series depicting the musician, the piece will appear in the auction house\u2019s 21st century evening sale on November 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kurt Cobain\u2019s most famous guitar\u2014as in, the one from the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video\u2014is headed for…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":388159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,47738,975,405,403,47739,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-388158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-categories-music","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-news-music","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkcity","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115572187179634474","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}