Smashed and siged Kurt Cobain guitar sells for almost $600,000

A guitar that was smashed and signed by Kurt Cobain was sold for big bucks at auction this weekend.

According to Julien’s Auctions, the Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, which was destroyed by Cobain on stage during Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ era’, sold for $595,000.

That figure is close to 10 times more than its original estimate, which was $60,000.

Cobain, who took his own life in 1994, was known for smashing several Fender Stratocasters throughout his career.

“The man was angry, and you could feel that on stage. And you would feel that by the way he would treat his instruments,” Kody Frederick of Julien’s Auctions told AFP news agency.

The guitar was later reassembled, though unplayable, and signed by all three members of Nirvana - Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl.

It also had an inscription to Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) from Cobain, which read: “Hell-o Mark! Love, Your Pal, Kurdt Kobain / Washed up rockstar.”

It also features the inscription “Boddah Lives” on the neck plate, a reference to Cobain’s childhood imaginary friend, in a black hard case with “Abort Christ” written on the top in white block letters. It also has a white Ernie Ball strap.

The auction featured more Nirvana items

Along with the guitar, the auction also features another piece of Nirvana memorabilia.

The setlist for the band’s April 17, 1991 performance at OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington was available for purchase.

It sold for $50,800, which is 12 times more than it was originally estimated at, which was $4,000.

The setlist is believed to be handwritten by Grohl, but what makes it so special is that it was Nirvana’s debut performance of their hit, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, before it was released in November 1991.

Written in pink marker on the back of a printed “Guitar Lessons with Tommy Rose’ flyer, the list includes songs like ‘Big Cheese’, ‘D-7′, ‘Love Buzz’, ‘About a Girl’, ‘Immoodiuum’, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, and ‘In Bloom’.