DuringNirvana’sBleachalbum tour in 1989 , Kurt Cobain ’s friend , Tessa Osbourne , gave the frontman a haircut . It train place in Birmingham , England , on October 29 , and someone even shoot some exposure of the two to document the case . It ’s not the only evidence in cosmos — Osbourne also go along some of Cobain ’s fuzz .
When he passed away in April 1994 , Osbourne flew from Birmingham to Seattle to pay her respects and ended up take form a friendly relationship with local artist Nicole DePolo , who , like so many other Nirvana fans , was ferment through her grief over Cobain ’s destruction .
“ I went back to the YMCA with her — she’d been staying there — and it was then that she perpetrate out the serial of photograph to evidence that she ’d cut back Kurt ’s hair , and also a udder of the hair itself , ” DePolo laterwrotein a provenance affidavit . “ ‘ Here , have some , ’ she said , pulling out a wispy lock and hand it to me . ”
In 2015 , DePolo trade the six strands to John Reznikoff , an expert authenticator and the founder of historic collectable companyUniversity Archives . “ The pilus means a lot to me , and I imagine it signify a passel to others , too — lover of grease , of rock and roll , or just eternal - teenaged - outsider , ” she explained . “ Hopefully now with the hair in John Reznikoff ’s hands , it will be maintain for posterity in a place where it can be appreciated by others . ”
Reznikoff is evidently ready to devolve off that obligation to someone else . As The A.V. Clubreports , the fuzz is currently up for auction sale through Iconic Auctions . Bidding start at $ 2500 , and it has since climbed to more than $ 3300 . In addition to the six strands of hair , encase on a disgraceful tack of paper beneath plastic , the winning bidder will also have two photos of Osbourne and Cobain , and a transcript of DePolo ’s 2015 affidavit explain how she came to own the haircloth .
The auction is exposed through Saturday , May 15 . Anyone who ’s unforced to shell out a few thousand dollars for some peculiarly iconic strings of dead cells can beseech onlinehere .
[ h / tThe A.V. Club ]
