A copy of Nirvana’s breakthrough album Nevermind has been auctioned for £18,600. The cover was signed by all three of the band at a 1991 Bristol gig.
In 1991, Nirvana were an alternative act.
While they were a very popular indie and college rock band, their debut album Bleach had come out on the indie label Sub Pop and sold around 40,000 copies.
Since that 1989 release they had made some moves, and by their UK tour of 1991 they were on the verge of becoming the biggest band in the world.
Cobain in a still from the Smells Like Teen Spirit video that helped make Nirvana the biggest band in the world.
In August, their first single from their first major label record Nevermind, started to get radio airplay in the US. A video accompanying Smells Like Teen Spirit became a huge hit on new music tv channels.
But Smells LIke Teen Spirit was due for a UK release until November.
So, for their Autumn tour, the band were booked in to the Bierkeller in Bristol.
The location of the Bierkeller in Bristol. Image Bristol Camra.
About 700 people turned up to see them.
One of them brought their copy of the album and managed to get all three members – Kurt Cobain, drummer Dave Grohl and bass player Krist Novoselic – to sign it after the show.
They kept the disc safe and that paid off handsomely last Wednesday when the record went sailing past a £10,000 estimate to sell for £18,600 at Wessex Auction Rooms.
Martin Hughes of Wessex Auction Rooms told the BBC before the sale: “[This is] possibly the best-signed example ever to come to market.”
Close up of a Cobain-played Skystang guitar that was auctioned for $1.58 million in 2023. It’s a long way from being the most valuable Nirvana guitar. Image courtesy of Julien’s Auctions.
Nirvana, and Kurt Cobain in particular are now among the most collectible rock stars in history. Memorabilia associated with them is starting to rival Beatles items for price and publicity.
The two most valuable guitars ever sold at auction are Cobain instruments. The Martin acoustic he played on the legendary MTV Unplugged show made $6.01 million in 2020. A blue Fender Mustang played in that Smells Like Teen Spirit video was sold for $4.55 million in 2022.
Cobain died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in April 1994.
With anything and everything related to the band potentially valuable, more British fans are sure to go up to their lofts this summer.
