Music

Kurt Cobain’s cardigan sells for record $334,000

Nirvana frontman wore the green jumper on MTV Unplugged, months before his death

The cardigan Kurt Cobain wore during the recording of Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged show in 1993 was sold with stains and cigarette burns. Photographs: AFP/Getty Images

Sun Oct 27 2019 - 19:47

A cardigan worn by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana's appearance on MTV Unplugged has sold for $334,000 (€301,430) at auction, making it the most expensive sweater to go under the hammer.

The olive green Manhattan brand acrylic and mohair cardigan – complete with stains and cigarette burns – was sold during Julien’s Auctions’ two-day auction of rock memorabilia at Hard Rock Cafe, New York.

The auction house described it as “one of the most famous sweaters in music history”. Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York was recorded at Sony Music Studios in front of a live audience five months before Cobain took his own life on April 5th, 1994. The album documenting that intimate performance was released four months after his death.

Kurt Cobain’s cardigan was expected to make between $200,000 and $300,000. Photograph: Johannes Eisele/ AFP/Getty Images)

A custom Fender guitar built in 1993 that Cobain used during the band’s In Utero tour was also sold, earning $340,000. The turquoise-bodied left-handed guitar was on display for several years at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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Accompanying the guitar was a handwritten letter signed by his wife Courtney Love Cobain, stating this was one of Cobain’s favourite instruments.

More than 700 items owned and used by stars including Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Queen, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix also featured in the sale, which ran on Friday and Saturday. – PA

Kurt Cobain