Tony Hawk Reproduces Kurt Cobain’s Hand-Painted Iron Maiden Skateboard for Charity
Tony Hawk celebrated Kurt Cobain’s birthday on Monday by announcing a charity project using original skateboard art by the Nirvana rocker, who would have turned 56 this year.
In an Instagram post on Friday, Hawk revealed that he bought Cobain’s 1985 skateboard at an auction last year. Cobain was an avid painter — sometimes of classic rock imagery — and decorated this deck with an homage to heavy-metal band Iron Maiden. The board is an original model by Jeff Phillips, a skater who died by suicide in 1993, three months before Cobain ended his life.
“Two icons that had immense influence on their respective fields, both of whom passed away tragically and much too young,” Hawk wrote. “I even tracked down the original owner to understand its provenance. With the incomparable help of @dupedupe, we are hoping to make something good of this acquisition by raising awareness for emotional health, and to help provide resources for those who are struggling mentally.”
On Monday, Hawk posted a new video in which he traveled to Seattle and spoke with the board’s former owner, Cameron Ross. In junior high, Ross recounts, he saw that Cobain had a flier up advertising commissioned art at Rosevear’s Music Center, the store in Aberdeen, Washington, where the future grunge icon bought his first guitar. For “20 bucks and a chunk of weed,” Cobain painted the Iron Maiden image that Ross requested on his deck.
“It’s such a piece of history,” Hawk says. “You know, there is a deeper history to this board, because it’s a Jeff Phillips board — he took his own life. So we decided that we should try to recreate this board for others to buy. And we will give the proceeds, half to the Jed Foundation for suicide prevention, and half to the Skatepark Project,” which helps to finance skateparks in low-income communities.
“Kurt and Jeff’s influences still resonate greatly in our worlds, so we hope to honor their legacies with these unique items,” Hawk wrote of the new replica Iron Maiden boards.
This is not the first time that Cobain’s personal items have been sold. In 2021, one of his childhood homes in Montesano, Washington, went on sale, and his artwork went to auction. Last spring, the Fender Mustang he played in the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video was sold for $4.5 million.
Earlier this month, Nirvana were honored at the Grammy’s Special Merit Award ceremony, where Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic took the stage alongside Heart, members of the Supremes, and others. “There’s a new generation of Nirvana fans, and I’m just very grateful for that,” Novoselic said. “Thank you all, so just keep on rockin’.”