An electric guitar smashed up and signed by the late Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain has sold for almost 10 times its estimated value.
The black, left-handed Fender Stratocaster went for $595,000 when it was auctioned at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City over the weekend.
The instrument was the headlining item in a three-day auction of pieces of rock history.
The guitar, which had been reassembled but remains unplayable, was originally valued between $60,000 and $80,000.
Nirvana’s popularity soared with their second album, “Nevermind.” Released in September 1991, the record had sold more than 1 million copies in the US by the end of that year. In 1992, it reached the No.1 slot on the Billboard 200—and has spent 472 weeks on the chart.
In 1994, Cobain died by suicide at the peak of his fame, aged just 27.
According to Julien’s Auctioneers, who staged the sale, Cobain smashed the guitar up “during Nirvana’s seminal Nevermind era,” though no specific details were given.
