Colts owner Jim Irsay Spends $4.5 Million On Kurt Cobain’s Guitar From ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’

By The Big Magazine Staff

Smells like a lot of money for a guitar ...

Billionaire Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay won a 4.5 million bid on Sunday for a 1969 left-handed Fender Mustang guitar formerly owned by Kurt Cobain that was featured in the Nirvana music video for the hit song “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Colts owner Jim Irsay Spends $4.5 Million On Kurt Cobain’s Guitar From ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’

The guitar remained in Kurt Cobain’s family after the singer died by suicide in 1994, but they had lent it out for display at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, Nirvana’s hometown, for the past 12 years.

The blue 1969 Mustang Fender guitar used by rock icon Kurt Cobain in the 1991 Nirvana music video "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is displayed by Martin Nolan, executive director of Julien’s Auctions

According to a Forbes article, Julien’s Auctions has estimated the rock memorabilia between $600,000 and $800,000.

The Cobain family donated A portion of the proceeds to Kicking the Stigma, the Irsay family’s initiative that raises awareness about mental health and offers grants to Indiana-area nonprofits, Irsay said in a tweet.

6/8/1984 -- Irsay the Guitarist --- Jim Irsay (right) hits a rock 'n' roll beat on the guitar at the Vogue night club. He played with Bob Kevoian (left), a WFBQ disc jockey, and Colts cinematographer Marty Hecksher. Several members of the Colts, including coach Frank Kush, were in the audience. Rich Miller photo

The auction also features other items, including original Kurt Cobain artwork on Iron Maiden’s 1985 “Killers” skateboard, his Michael Jackson artwork, his all-access pass from Nirvana’s 1993 In Utero concert tour, his United Airlines boarding pass from a flight he took from Seattle to Chicago and his Australian Nevermind tour schedule, to name a few.

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