Six Strands of Kurt Cobain's Hair Goes to Auction

Nirvana superfans with deep pockets now have the chance to own a very rare and personal piece of Kurt Cobain memorabilia — six strands of his hair.

As described by Iconic Auctions, the strands were cut by Tessa Osbourne, “an early confidant” of Cobain’s in Birmingham, England in 1989 during the Bleach tour. ”This one-of-a-kind artifact is entirely fresh-to-market, and accompanied by an impeccable lineage of provenance including images of Kurt posing with the woman who cut this hair, scissors in hand, and a fantastic shot of the hair actually being cut!” the listing read. “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 Kurdt’s hair in Birmingham, England, 27 Holy Rd., Handsworth, Birmingham B202BU;” which is retained with the original complete lock.”

DePolo confirmed in a signed, two-page provenance affidavit that Osbourne and Cobain knew each other as they spent time together on 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.”

The minimum bid for the strands is priced at $2,500 USD.

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