Kurt Cobain hair
photo via Iconic Auctions

Kurt Cobain's hair is being sold at auction

Plenty of Kurt Cobain‘s guitars have gone up for auction, along with a cardigan sweater. Here’s something a little different, though: six strands of the late Nirvana frontman’s hair will go on the auction block, beginning today (5/6) at 8 PM ET on Iconic Auctions. Their description reads:

This one-of-a-kind artifact is entirely fresh-to-market and is accompanied by an impeccable lineage of provenance including photos of Kurt posing with the woman who cut this hair, scissors in hand, and a fantastic shot of the hair actually being cut! The lucky friend who trimmed the Nirvava frontman’s iconic blond locks was an early confidant, Tessa Osbourne, who cut his hair in 1989 — well prior to his Nevermind breakthrough — while on the Bleach tour. Tessa presented the original lock to Seattle artist Nicole DePolo as a heartfelt gift after Kurt’s passing, and she provided the original bag with handwritten provenance note, ’29/10/89: Tess cut Kurt’s hair in Birmingham, England, 27 Holy Rd., Handsworth, Birmingham B202BU.

DePolo, who is the current owner of the hair, provided a two-page provenance affidavit to go along with it. It reads:

Tessa had known Kurt back in England, and they had hung out during the Bleach Tour. Nirvana had broken in England first, and she must have had a sense that Kurt would become a musical force. When it came to Kurt, Tessa was kind of what like Astrid Kirchherr had been to the Beatles — the woman who had given him his iconic haircut. She even had a series of pictures to prove it: a snapshot of her and Kurt with long straggly hair while she held a pair of scissors high, then a shot of the scissors going through about 7″ of hair. The rest was history. Kurt was known for his bleached blond pageboy, and she’d given him his first one back in October of 1989, just before his image began to circulate throughout the world.

Here’s that picture:

Kurt Cobain hair
photo via Iconic Auctions

Proceeds from the auction go to Live Nation’s Crew Nation relief fund for out-of-work tour crew members.

If you’re in the market for some of Kurt’s records, we have vinyl copies of Nevermind and Bleach available in our shop.

Nirvana vinyl