Frances Bean Cobain Was Forced to Give Up Kurt Cobain’s $6 Million Guitar in Her Divorce
A Kurt Cobain guitar became a family heirloom for his daughter, Frances Bean Cobain. But during Frances’ 2016 divorce, a contentious court battle ensued that forced the rock music icon’s daughter to give up the precious instrument.
Frances Bean Cobain loses her father’s guitar in the divorce settlement
Frances Bean Cobain married Isaiah Silva on June 29, 2014. As a musician himself, Silva had been compared to Kurt Cobain for both his style and appearance.
But in 2016 Cobain cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the divorce that apparently left Silva bitter. According to TMZ, he alleged that there was no prenuptial agreement and that Cobain left him broke after promising to pay his expenses, including the cost of private schooling for his child from a previous relationship.
The bone of contention and perhaps Silva’s perceived source of leverage lay with a famous acoustic guitar he claimed Cobain gave him. Cobain denied this and asked that it be returned. Courtney Love said the 1959 Martin D-18E that her late husband played on the 1993 MTV Unplugged set was a treasured family heirloom, and “not his to take.”
Silva refused to give up the guitar because it was a gift. He also asked for $25,000 a month in spousal support. Under the terms of the settlement reached six months after the divorce was finalized, Silva got the guitar and nothing else.
TMZ reported that “there’s one major condition to Silva getting Kurt’s guitar — Silva’s baby mama has to quickly vacate the couple’s L.A. house, which is now strictly Cobain’s under the property settlement.” On top of that, Silva didn’t get a red cent of spousal support and had to pay his own legal fees.
Kurt Cobain’s iconic ‘Unplugged’ guitar is sold at auction
Even without monthly support, Silva hardly left the marriage as the broke musician he claimed to be. In May 2020, Page Six announced that the coveted 1959 Martin D-18E would be auctioned off by an unknown seller. Given the court battle waged for it and who got it in the end, it’s safe to say Silva was that seller.
On June 21, 2020, the BBC reported that Kurt Cobain’s guitar went up for sale with a starting bid of $1 million. It was sold to Australian businessman and founder of Rode Microphones, Peter Freedman for a record $6.01 million. Freedman called the purchase “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” and said he planned to take the guitar on a world tour to raise money for the performing arts.
The sale broke the previous record for the most expensive guitar ever sold. The Fender Stratocaster belonging to David Gilmour of Pink Floyd sold in 2019 for nearly $4 million.
Nirvana’s ‘MTV Unplugged’ live performance is one of history’s greatest
In November 1993, Cobain and his bandmates took the MTV stage for a live performance that would be one of their last appearances. According to Genius, Cobain was nervous about the show, didn’t want to play his usual hits, and decorated the stage with black candles and lilies.
In retrospect, the stage looked more suited for a funeral than a concert, oddly foreshadowing his tragic death just five months later. On stage, Cobain seemed tired and subdued but warmed up to the audience as the set progressed.
The last song of the evening was a haunting rendition of Huddie William Ledbetter’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night”. Cobain called the blues singer, whose stage name was Lead Belly, his favorite performer that night, mentioning that he was offered Lead Belly’s guitar for $500,000.
“That show was supposed to be a disaster,” said Nirvana’s drummer and vocalist, David Grohl who is now frontman for the Foo Fighters. Grohl continued:
“We weren’t used to playing acoustic. We did a few rehearsals and they were terrible. Everyone thought it was horrible. Even the people from MTV thought it was horrible. Then we sat down and the cameras started rolling and something clicked. It became one of the band’s most memorable performances.”
In 1996, Nirvana won a Grammy for the double Platinum album, MTV Unplugged in New York. In 2023, Frances Bean Cobain married Riley Hawk, son of professional skateboarder Tony Hawk.
