Scorched Hendrix Guitar Going to Auction, Expecting Million Dollar Bid

A guitar famously lit on fire by Jimi Hendrix while performing onstage in London in 1967 is going to auction. Experts are predicting the guitar may fetch as much as $1 million. Hendrix used the guitar at the London Astoria while he was living in the U.K. on a temporary visa. Looking to make a name for himself, Hendrix lit the Fender Stratocaster on fire, only to burn himself while performing the stunt. Hendrix was taken to the hospital, but not before he told the venue's roadies to retrieve the guitar. The rest is rock history, as Hendrix would repeat the bonfire of the guitar at future performances. The guitar was initially given to both Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding and press officer Tony Garland, who held onto it for 40 years before his nephew put it up in this auction. The Fame Bureau and Idea Generation will conduct the auction on September 4th. Other notable items up for sale include John Bonham's last-surviving drum-kit, Jim Morrison's final book of poetry and a "We Are the World" song sheet autographed by Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Bob Dylan.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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