The guitar played by Kurt Cobain during his legendary MTV Unplugged set has been sold for a record amount at auction.
The Nirvana star appeared with his band for a lengthy set in November 1993, which was recorded a mere five months before his death by suicide.
The MTV Unplugged performance was released as an album entitled MTV Unplugged in New York following Cobain's death and topped the US Billboard Charts and won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1996.
According to Page Six, Julien’s Auctions confirmed the guitar sold for a record $6 million on Saturday.
This breaks a previous record for a Black Stratocaster owned by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, which went for $3.95 million, according to Rolling Stone.
The 1959 Martin D-18E that Cobain played for MTV Unplugged had already had bids of $1 million at pre-auction.
The auction was held in Beverly Hills with a range of prospective buyers attending in person, online and over the phone.
Ultimately the winner was Peter Freedman, the founder of RØDE Microphones, who attended the auction in person.
The businessman plans to display the legendary guitar at exhibitions in galleries across the globe, the proceeds of which will go directly towards supporting the performing arts, which is an industry particularly struggling in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement from Julien's, Freedman said: "When I heard that this iconic guitar was up for auction I immediately knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure it and use it as a vehicle to spotlight the struggles that those in the performing arts are facing and have always faced."
He continued by highlighting how the performing arts have been "shattered by the impact of COVID-19" and how he hopes to provide some help at a time where the "little support" they face is more visible than ever.
Page Six had previously reported that Kurt Cobain's widow Courtney Love and their daughter Frances Bean Cobain had tried to stop the guitar going to auction.
They had lost the guitar to Frances' ex-husband, musician Isaiah Silva, who refused to return the guitar to them as part of the divorce agreement following their split in 2016.
Love previously said: "It’s not [Silva’s]. It’s a treasured heirloom of the family. It’s not his to take."
A judge awarded Silva the guitar as part of a divorce settlement in 2018, but Silva went on to file a lawsuit against Love and Sam Lufti, claiming they were attempting to kill him to get the guitar back.
Love responded by requesting that Silva receive a psychiatric evaluation as part of the suit.
Mirror Online has reached out to representatives of Courtney Love and Frances Bean Cobain for comment.
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