Phoebe Bridgers' smashed SNL guitar sells for over $100,000

Phoebe Bridgers
(Image credit: Phoebe Bridgers / Instagram / Handbid)

The electric guitar Phoebe Bridgers destroyed during her Saturday Night Live performance in February has sold for $101,500, more than four times its expected price.

The Danelectro Dano '56 was listed by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards last week, and sold to an anonymous buyer for the six-figure sum on April 11.

The guitar is, understandably, in less than perfect condition, with a huge chunk missing from left-hand side of the lower bout. While the controls are still present and intact, it's unclear whether or not the internal electronics work.

“I know she has a loyal fan base,” says Anthony Ramos, supervising producer of the GLAAD Media Awards. “Saturday night when I went to bed, it was around $18,000, and I was like, ‘That’s a great number!’ I was kind of hoping we would get to 25. Then I woke up and it was 40, then 50, then 80, and finally over 100.”

“I’m so thankful someone wanted to support our work and wanted that guitar so badly.”

Phoebe Bridgers attracted a wave of controversy following her SNL performance of I Know the End – the closing track from her 2020 album Punisher – with some labeling her performance “extra”, “disappointing” and an “unjustifiably awkward display of white privilege”.

She clapped back with an Instagram photo of herself mid-guitar smash with the caption: “Got some really great feedback from my performance! Next time I’ll just burn it and it will be more expensive.”

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Sam Roche

Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.