Clapton and Cobain classics to boost Kicking the Stigma
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A double jolt of rock ’n’ roll history is coming to the mental health campaign from the Indianapolis Colts and the Irsay family.
The team says auctions of a pair of historic guitars will raise money for Kicking the Stigma.
The first is as recognizable for its look as its sound. It’s a mahogany-body Gibson known as “The Fool.”
According to a history of the instrument from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Beatle George Harrison gave it to his friend and fellow virtuoso, Eric Clapton. It then got a psychedelic paint scheme, and Clapton then used it while performing several of his most memorable licks with Cream through the late 1960s. People can see it on YouTube as Clapton plays it.
The second guitar to benefit “Kicking the Stigma” is a piece of grunge-era history. It’s a light-blue Fender Mustang dubbed “Skystang I.”
Fans of Nirvana will immediately recognize it as one of Kurt Cobain’s concert favorites. See it from the opening frames of a performance of Nirvana’s “Pennyroyal Tea“.
Both guitars are set to sell under the gavel of Julien’s Auctions. The presale estimate for each is a final price of $1 million to $2 million, with an opening bid of a quarter million dollars. Explore “The Fool” and bid on it here.
The Skystang specifics are in this video with the auction page.
The auctions are set to end in mid-November. The Irsay family says part of the proceeds from the sales will benefit Kicking the Stigma.
The mental health campaign started in 2020. The Irsays say the program has committed more than $25 million to expand treatment and research and raise awareness.
The partnership also builds on Jim Irsay’s longtime love of pricey pieces of rock and roll history. He has paid millions for several famed pieces, including Kurt Cobain’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” guitar this spring, and a famed Jimi Hendrix instrument less than a month later.