INDIANAPOLIS (CelebrityAccess) – The owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts, Jim Irsay, and Family will kick off May’s Mental Health Awareness Month by partnering with Julien’s Auctions to bring Kurt Cobain‘s iconic guitar used in Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video, to the auction.
The starting estimate for the guitar is $600,000 to $800,000. A portion of the auction proceeds will benefit Kicking the Stigma, the Irsays’ campaign to raise awareness about mental health disorders and remove the stigma associated with those illnesses.
The Irsay family’s initiative has raised nearly $20 million in less than three years for local Indianapolis and national organizations – because the issue hits close to home. Multi-millionaire and Colts owner Jim Irsay has had well-documented problems with substance abuse, which often clumps together with mental illness, a vicious cycle, which not treated eventually leads to .. well, we know where. Irsay’s daughter, Kalen Jackson, had this to say during a podcast:
“One of the biggest problems is the stigma of reaching out and seeking help. People think it’s their fault and they’re not deserving of help. That’s one of the biggest reasons suicide has increased, and substance-abuse disorder has increased. … Definitely our personal experience through what (my dad) experienced, and also we have a lot of family and friends who’ve experienced the same things.”
Julien’s will be placing the 1969 Fender electric guitar and other Cobain / Nirvana items up for auction as part of its three-day “MUSIC ICONS” event, live at the Hard Rock Cafe Times Square, New York City, and online (May 20-22). Before the historic auction took place, the guitar had been on tour in London, Beverly Hills, Indianapolis, and finally, New York.
