The guitar of Kurt Cobain, leader of Nirvana, was sold on Saturday during auctions organized by the house of Julien's for 6 million dollars. A record for a guitar, so far owned by that of David Gilmour, of the group Pink Floyd.

Used by Kurt Cobain during the recording of the famous concert "MTV Unplugged" of Nirvana, in 1993, the guitar of the leader of Nirvana was sold Saturday, during auctions organized by the house Julien's, for 6 million dollars, a record for a guitar.

The buyer, who was physically present at the sale organized in Beverly Hills (California), is the Australian entrepreneur Peter Freedman, founder of the company Røde Microphones, which designs microphones, said Julien's in a press release.

Starting price set at one million

The head of the company immediately indicated that he intended to present the instrument in several cities around the world, the proceeds from exhibitions going to charities supporting the world of entertainment. The price, from $ 5 million raised to 6.01 by adding fees and commission, greatly exceeded the initial estimate of the house Julien's, which had set the starting point of the sale at a million.

So far, the most expensive guitar in history has been a Fender Stratocaster, dubbed "Black Strat", used by guitarist British band Pink Floyd, David Gilmour. It had been sold by the musician for 3.975 million dollars, during a sale organized in June 2019 by Christie's, for the benefit of charitable works.

>> Find Fabienne Le Moal's midday journal in replay and podcast here

A concert given 6 months before his suicide

The semi-acoustic guitar of Kurt Cobain sold on Saturday is a rare model, the D-18E manufactured by the American luthier Martin in only 302 copies, this one in 1959. It answered the rules of the broadcast "Unplugged" (unplugged) from the American channel MTV, who wanted the guest artists to use only acoustic or semi-acoustic instruments.

Recorded in New York on November 18, 1993, the concert "Unplugged" corresponds to the peak of Nirvana, the most striking rock group of the 90s, which crystallized around it a musical movement, grunge. The stage performance took place less than six months before the suicide, on April 5, 1994, of Kurt Cobain, depressed and addicted to heroin, at the age of 27 years.

The guitarist and singer will not have known the publication of "Unplugged", which was going to rise to the first rank of the sales of discs as of its exit, in November 1994. According to the specialized magazine Billboard, it passed more than five million copies in the United States alone.

The guitar was sold with its case, personalized by Kurt Cobain, as well as three luggage deposit tickets. At the end of October, the legendary olive green vest worn by Kurt Cobain when recording the same "Unplugged" had been sold for 334,000 dollars, at auctions also organized by Julien's Auctions.