Kurt Cobain‘s Nirvana MTV Unplugged acoustic guitar is arguably one of the most fabled instruments of rock music, or, at the very least, of grunge rock. Fans of the ’90s rockers may have assumed that the guitar was safely stowed away somewhere, or perhaps in a museum.
The truth is, it was given to Cobain’s daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, for safe keeping. Now Frances Bean, 23, and her husband of under two years, Isaiah Silva, are divorcing, and things are getting ugly — with her father’s guitar, estimated to be worth millions, caught in the middle.
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Silva, 31, claims that Frances Bean gave him the guitar as a wedding present, and she insists she did no such thing.
The guitar, a Martin D-18E, is one of about 300 made by the company before the model was discontinued. It’s even more unique because it has a replaced bridge and nut that allowed for the left-handed Cobain to play it. According to Cobain’s ex, Courtney Love, it’s also the last guitar he played months before committing suicide in 1994.
Love told TMZ that her daughter never planned to give the guitar away.
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“It’s not his,” she said. “It’s a treasured heirloom of the family. It’s not his to take. I’m very glad that she’s out of this very dangerous and toxic relationship.”
Frances Bean Cobain filed for divorce earlier this year, citing irreconcilable differences.
For your listening pleasure, here’s Cobain singing About a Girl from the 1993 MTV Unplugged session on the Martin D-18E.