The rare D-18E guitar Kurt Cobain played during his 1993 "MTV Unplugged" performance approximately five months before his death sold on Saturday for a record $6 million.
The D-18E was expected to fetch $1 million, instead the guitar received seven bids in total, including the winning bid of $6,010,00, the Julien’s Auctions website stated.
"This important guitar has earned its rightful place in Rock 'N' Roll history as the instrument played by one of rock's most influential musicians and icons in one of the greatest and most memorable live performances of all time," the auction house explained in a press release.
The guitar also features rare, personal custom details — Cobain decorated the hardshell case with a flyer from Poison Idea's 1990 album Feel the Darkness, and three baggage claim stubs adorn the handle. He also added a Bartolini pickup to the soundhole, and the case includes three guitar picks and a suede "stash" bag.
Yet even without its mythic owner, the instrument is a precious musical object. According to CNN, there were only 302 D-18Es made by the Martin Guitar company.
The sale of Cobain's guitar has broken the record for most for most expensive guitar ever sold, previously held by a Black Stratocaster owned by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour which sold for $3.95 million.
Similarly, just last year, Cobain's olive green Manhattan brand sweater he wore during that same 1994 set sold for $334,000 at auction.
