Do you remember where you were on January 18, 1991? That day marked a pivotal moment in rock history when Nirvana, then still an unknown band, played an anti-Gulf War benefit concert at The Evergreen State College. Kurt Cobain, the band’s founder and lead singer, closed the show by debuting “Endless Nameless” and famously smashing his left-handed Memphis Stratocaster replica guitar with a hammer. The remains of this iconic instrument are now up for auction at Hake’s, a well-known platform for Americana and collectible items.
Chris Brady, a bassist from Portland, attended the concert and recalled the chaotic scene at the end of the performance, as fans scrambled to grab pieces of the shattered guitar. Afterward, Chris managed to slip the guitar under his winter coat and made his way out of the venue. He later gifted the broken instrument to his friend, Janel Jarosz, at her surprise birthday party.
Jarosz, a singer/guitarist with the Portland band Trailer Queen, also ran The Ooze, a small record store in Portland. She has held onto the guitar for over three decades, long before Nirvana’s monumental rise to fame with their album Nevermind. For years, the guitar was displayed in the window of her record shop and later affixed to the ceiling after surviving two break-ins. The shop’s window display, which included the guitar, even won an MTV national contest, earning Jarosz a backstage pass to a Nirvana show in Seattle.
Now, this rare and highly sought-after memorabilia is available to the public, with a clean provenance confirmed by letters from both Brady and Jarosz. Cobain’s guitars have previously fetched record-breaking sums at auctions, including his Fender Mustang, used in the Smells Like Teen Spirit video, which sold for $4.55 million, and his Martin D-18E, used during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged performance, which went for $6 million. Jarosz, having held onto the guitar for so many years, is now ready to part with it, and the sale will help fund her retirement.
Described by Hake’s as a “left-handed Memphis Stratocaster replica,” the guitar was made in Japan at the Matsumoku factory, featuring red paint and remnants of its original electronics and white pickguard. According to the auction house, Cobain used a hammer to smash the guitar during the concert, breaking off the headstock, damaging the frets, shredding the pickguard, and ejecting the pickups. The guitar bears the marks of this intense moment in rock history, and while it is no longer playable, it remains an emblem of the iconic performance.
This guitar was part of the larger cultural scene in Olympia, Washington, where Cobain lived and worked during the early years of Nirvana. It was here that he wrote much of his music, and the city was a hub for the Riot Grrl movement, an underground feminist punk scene that sought to express anger, frustration, and emotions rarely voiced by women in music. Nirvana’s first hit, Smells Like Teen Spirit, was even inspired by graffiti on Cobain’s apartment wall by Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill.
The guitar’s auction will continue until November 20, 2024, as part of Hake’s two-day event. As of now, the current bid stands at $82,500, with other grunge-related memorabilia also up for sale.
“This guitar reflects the violent beauty of rock ‘n’ roll,” said Scott Mussell, Hake’s director of Americana. “Cobain poured his emotions into it while channeling the destructive spirit of legends like Hendrix, Simonon, and Townsend. It is, without a doubt, one of the coolest items Hake’s has handled in our 57 years of operation, and it holds a unique energy that moves everyone who comes into contact with it. It’s an honor to present this piece, and I hope the next owner will share it with the world.”
This piece of rock history is now up for grabs, and its sale will mark the next chapter in the legacy of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.
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