Kurt Cobain’s Acoustic Guitar, Given By Frances Cobain To Her Ex-Husband, Is Going For Auction

Kurt Cobain’s Acoustic Guitar

According to Reuters and plenty of other media, Kurt Cobain’s famous 1959 Martin D-18E acoustic guitar he played during the live taping of ‘MTV Unplugged’ on November 18, 1993, is now going up for auction in Beverly Hills, California.

The guitar is expected to fetch around $1 million at auction on June 19-June 20, 2020. We also know that the guitar comes with its original battered case, which also contains Cobain’s half-used pack of Martin guitar strings, three guitar picks, and his suede ‘stash’ bag decorated with a miniature silver spoon, fork, and knife.

And if you are surprised by the outrageous price asked for the instrument, Julien’s Chief Executive Darren Julien explains that the guitar ‘has earned its rightful place in 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.’

But what the press does not tell you is that this same guitar has been in the middle of a family battle since 2016. The guitar was given to Isaiah Silva by Frances Bean Cobain as a gift when they were married, and when they divorced in March 2016, Silva was entitled to keep the precious music instrument. During the divorce proceedings, the Cobain family argued that the guitar should remain in the family, but Silva kept the guitar, in his own rights.

In June 2016, Silva filed a civil suit, claiming Courtney Love, her manager Sam Lutfi, and a group of other men impersonated the LAPD and attempted to kidnap and kill him to get the guitar back. In the complaint you could read: ‘The primary objective of their conspiracy was to locate and take possession of a guitar believed to be worth millions of dollars, which was gifted to Silva, by Frances, on January 8, 2014, six months prior to their June 29, 2014 marriage.’

One of the last updates regarding the epic saga was published just a year ago when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Randolph Hammock cleared the way for the lawsuit against Courtney Love. Remember the incident occurred in 2016, but it’s not surprising it takes that long to sue the Nirvana empire. It also takes a lot of money, and I don’t see any other reason why Silva would sell the guitar, he probably needs money for that expensive lawsuit. In a way, it’s a good sign, it means he is not giving up, it means he really wants to fight. Since the lawsuit allegedly is going to bring up another conspiracy, Kurt Cobain’s death, it promises to be very interesting.