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- Most expensive guitar sold on auction belonged to Kurt Cobain
- The Nirvana leads’ 1959 Martin D sold for $6-million in 2020
- David Gilmour’s black Strat sold for nearly $4-million
The most expensive guitar sold at auction is a 1959 Martin D-18E. It belonged to Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, who played it for their performance on MTV Unplugged in 1993. The guitar sold for $6-million in 2020.
The world’s second-most expensive guitar was also once owned by the grunge-rock pioneer. His 1969 Fender Mustang sold for $4.6-million in 2022. Cobain plays it in the band’s Smells Like Teen Spirit 1991 music video, which has been viewed on YouTube 1.8-billion times.
A third Cobain instrument – a 1993 Fender Mustang – sold for $1.59-million, fetching the 10th highest price paid for a guitar at auction.
The ‘Black Strat’ owned by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour sold for $3.97-million when it went on auction in 2019. This is the guitar played in the Comfortably Numb solo, Gilmour’s No 1 from 1970-1986.
The iconic modified instrument is the subject of a book by Phil Taylor, Gilmour’s guitar technician.
— 14 May, 2024Subscribe to the weekly newsletter for more charts like this
