Many Florida fans of alternative music recall the MTV Unplugged performance in which Kurt Cobain and the rest of the band Nirvana played an acoustic version of many of their songs, as well as several covers. Cobain committed suicide just months after that performance, and the guitar that he played on Unplugged was passed down to his wife and daughter. Frances Bean Cobain, now 23 years of age, is currently struggling with her husband over her father’s guitar, which is at the center of a property division debate.
Cobain married Isaiah Silva, who is the frontman for the band The Eeries, after a five-year courtship. She filed for divorce just 21 months later, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason behind the split. Frances Bean Cobain is set to inherit her father’s estate, which is worth an estimated $450 million. A prenuptial agreement protects that wealth from loss in a divorce, but Silva is arguing that Kurt Cobain’s guitar was a gift that his wife gave him during the marriage and falls outside of the parameters of their prenup.
When asked to comment on the matter, Courtney Love, Frances Bean’s mother and widow of Kurt, stated that her daughter never intended to give away her father’s guitar and that the instrument is a family heirloom. Frances Bean denies ever giving the guitar to Silva. In addition to its sentimental value, the guitar is incredibly valuable due to the fact that it was among the last instruments that Cobain played during his lifetime, and that it was the guitar used to record the MTV Unplugged performance.
It appears that the property division matter will go before a court. At that time, the judge will evaluate Silva’s claim that he was given the guitar as a gift, along with any other matters upon which the couple is unable to come to terms. In the end, a decision will be made as to whether Cobain’s daughter will be able to keep the instrument, or be forced to relinquish it to Silva as part of the divorce. Many Florida Nirvana fans feel strongly that the guitar should stay in Cobain’s family and will follow the case to see how it is ultimately resolved.
Source: musictimes.com, “Frances Bean’s Ex Husband The Eeries Isaiah Silva Keeping Kurt Cobain’s ‘MTV Unplugged’ Guitar“, Caliey Lindberg, July 7, 2016
