Jim Irsay Collection acquires iconic Kurt Cobain guitar

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Jim Irsay Collection has acquired the iconic Fender guitar used by Kurt Cobain in the music video for Nirvana’s 1991 single, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

The Irsay Collection picked up the left-handed 1969 Competition Lake Placid Blue Mustang electric guitar at auction for approximately $4.5 million, according to a report by Variety, far surpassing the guitar’s original estimate of $600,000 to $800,000.

The guitar was on tour in Beverly Hills, London, and Indianapolis before making its way to Hard Rock Cafe Times Square in New York for auction.

A portion of the auction’s proceeds will benefit Kicking the Stigma, the Irsay family’s initiative to raise awareness about mental health disorders and remove the stigma often associated with these illnesses.

“I am thrilled to preserve and protect another piece of American culture that changed the way we listened to and looked at the world,” Jim Irsay, owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts, said after the auction. “The fact that a portion of the proceeds will go toward our effort to kick the stigma surrounding mental illnesses makes this acquisition even more special to me.”

The Fender was a go-to instrument for Cobain, who died by suicide in 1994.

In his final interview with Guitar World before his death, Cobain said of the iconic Fender: “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.”