Kurt Cobain's iconic "Smells Like Teen Spirit" guitar has sold for a staggering $4.55 million at a recent auction in California.
Cobain, whose Irish ancestors hail from Co Tyrone and Co Cork, played the blue and white 1969 Fender Mustang left-handed guitar the iconic Nirvana grunge anthem, released in 1991.
He also played the instrument in the accompanying music video.
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American businessman Jim Irsay, CEO of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, won a recent bidding war for the iconic guitar, paying more than seven times its estimated value at an auction held by Julien's Auctions in California.
Irsay, who is worth an estimated $3.5 billion, is a major guitar collector and has previously bought guitars belonging to Elvis Presley, George Harrison, Prince, Bob Dylan, and David Gilmour among others.
"I am thrilled to preserve and protect another piece of American culture that changed the way we looked at the world," Irsay said after buying the guitar.
SOLD for $4,550,000. Kurt Cobain's 1969 Fender Mustang that was used in the Smells Like Teen Spirit music video.
Sold in our Music Icons auction at the Hard Rock Cafe NYC and on https://t.co/t4ldWRGALP taking place today. pic.twitter.com/OtKXPS1PZr
— Julien's Auctions (@JuliensAuctions) May 22, 2022
Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994 at the age of 27, bought the guitar in a Los Angeles guitar shop in 1990 and later used it during many live Nirvana performances.
In an interview with Guitar World shortly before his death, he described the guitar as his "favorite".
"I'm left-handed, and it's not very easy to find reasonably priced, high-quality left-handed guitars.
"But out of all the guitars in the whole world, the Fender Mustang is my favorite. I've only owned two of them."
The Cobain family will donate a portion of the proceeds of the sale to Kicking the Stigma, a mental health charity run by Irsay.
Darren Julien of Julien's Auctions described the sale as a "once-in-a-lifetime event".
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