Kurt Donald Cobain was the leader of Nirvana, the multi-platinum grunge band that redefined the sound of the nineties.
Cobain was born on the 20th of February 1967 in Hoquaim,
a small town 140 kilometres south-west of Seattle.
His mother was a cocktail waitress and his father was an
auto mechanic. Cobain soon moved to nearby Aberdeen,
a depressed and dying logging town.
Cobain was for most his childhood a sickly bronchitic child.
Matters were made worse when Cobain's parent's divorced
when he was seven and by his own account Cobain said
he never felt loved or secure again.
He became increasingly difficult, anti-social and withdrawn
after his parent's divorce.
Cobain also said that his parent's traumatic split fueled
a lot of the anguish in Nirvana's music.
After his parent's divorce Cobain found himself
shuttled back and forth between various relatives
and at one stage homeless living under a bridge.
When Cobain was eleven he heard and was
captivated by the Britain's Sex Pistols and
after their self-destruction Cobain and
friend Krist Novoselic continued to listen
to the wave of British bands including
Joy Division the nihilistic post-punk band
that some say Nirvana are directly descended
from in form of mood, melody and lyrical quality.
Cobain's artistry and iconoclastic attitude didn't
win many friends in high school and sometimes
earned him beatings from "jocks" Cobain got
even by spray painting "QUEER" on their pick-up
trucks. By 1985 Aberdeen was dead and Cobain's
next stop was Olympia. Cobain formed and reformed
a series of bands before Nirvana came to be in 1986.
Nirvana was an uneasy alliance between Cobain,
bassist Krist Novoselic and eventually drummer
and multi-instrumentalist Dave Grohl
By 1988 Nirvana were doing shows and had demo
tapes going around. In 1989 Nirvana recorded their
rough-edged first album Bleach for local Seattle
independent label Sub-Pop
In Britain Nirvana received a lot of recognition and in
1991 their contract was bought out by Geffen, they
signed to the mega-label, the first non-mainstream
band to do so. Two and a half years after Nirvana's
first C.D. Bleach was released they released Nevermind
, a series of different, crunching, screaming songs
that along with it's first single Smells Like Teen Spirit
would propel Nirvana to mainstream stardom.
Smells Like Teen Spirit became Nirvana's most highly
acclaimed and instantly recognizable song. Not many
people can decipher it's exact lyrics but Cobain used
a seductive hookline to hook the listener. Nevermind
went on to sell ten million copies and make a reported
$550 million (US) leaving Nirvana overnight millionaires.
Cobain was shocked at the reception of his highly
personal and passionate music repeatedly telling
reporters that none of the band ever, ever expected
anything like this. It quickly became obvious that the
obsessively sickly and sensitive 24yr old was not going
to cope well with the rock'n roll lifestyle. "If there was a
rock star 101 course, I'd really have like to take it,"
Cobain once observed. Cobain fell into heroin in the
early 90's, he said he used it as a shield against the
rigorous demands of touring and to stop the pain of
stomach ulcers or an irritated bowel. Through the
touring and pressure Cobain continued to write his
very personal acutely focused lyrics.
Cobain was distressed to find out that what he wrote
and how it was interpreted could quite often be miles
apart. He was appalled when he found out that Polly
a heavily ironic anti-rape song had been used as
background music in a real gang-rape. He later
appealed to fans on the Incesticide liner notes
"If any of you don't like gays or women or blacks,
please leave us the fuck alone." It was to no avail,
Cobain found that as an overnight millionaire musician
control was something he had very little of. Cobain
also worried that his band had sold-out, that it was
attracting the wrong kind of fans (i.e the type that
used to beat him up.)
ic charts. In Utero was widely
acclaimed by the music press and it contains some of
Cobain's most passionate work. In Utero was a lot more
open than Nirvana's previous albums. Songs like All
Apologies and Heart Shaped Box detailed aspects of
Cobain's sometimes shaky marriage, other songs like
Scentless Apprentice detailed the agonies and struggles
of Cobain's experiences.
Nirvana embarked on a support tour and recorded and
filmed an "unplugged" (acoustic) performance for MTV
in November of 1993. Nirvana's choice to honour bands
and people that had influenced them and Cobain's
passionate and intense vocals especially on "Where
Did You Sleep Last Night?"silenced many of their
who had labeled Cobain talentless. Rumors circulated
that the MTV Unplugged compilation would be Nirvana's
last album and the band were splitting up.
Cobain was a gun fanatic and always had several in his
possession or in various forms of confiscation. In the
northern winter of 1993-94 Nirvana embarked on an
extensive European tour. Twenty concerts into the
tour Cobain developed throat problems and their
schedule was interrupted while he recovered.
While recovering Cobain flew to Rome to join his
wife who was also preparing to tour with her own band.
On March the 4th Cobain was rushed to hospital in
a coma after an unsuccessful suicide bid in which he
washed down about fifty prescription painkillers with
champagne. The suicide bid was officially called an
accident and was not even made known to close
friends and associates. Several days later he
returned to Seattle. Cobain's wife, friends and
managers convinced Cobain, who was still in deep
distress to enter a detox program in L.A. According
to a missing person's report filed by his mother
Cobain fled after only a few days of the program.
Cobain was cited in the Seattle area with a shotgun.
Days later on the 5th of April he barricaded himself
into the granny flat behind his mansion, put a shotgun
in his mouth and pulled the trigger. On Thursday April
the 7th ~ two days after a medical examiner says
Cobain shot himself and the day before his body was
found police say Courtney Love herself was taken to
hospital in L.A. for a drug overdose. Released on bail,
Love checked herself into a rehab center but left soon
after a friend called her the next day with news of
Cobain's death.
Cobain's body was found when an electrician visiting
the house to install a security system went round the
back of the house when no one answered the front door
and peered through windows. He thought he saw a
mannequin sprawled on the floor until he noticed a
splotch of blood by Cobain's ear. When police broke
down the door they found Cobain dead on the floor,
a shotgun still pointed at his chin and on a nearby
counter a suicide note written in red ink addressed
to Love and the couples then 19 month old daughter
Frances Bean.
The suicide note ended with the words
"I love you, I love you." Two days after Kurt
Cobain's body was found about 5,000 people
gathered in Seattle for a candlelight vigil. the
distraught crowd filled the air with profane
chants, burnt their flannel shirts and fought with
police. They also listened to a tape made by
Cobain's wife in which she read from his suicide
note. Several distressed teenagers in the U.S.
and Australia killed themselves. The mainstream
media was lambasted for it's lack of respect and
understanding of youth culture.
We'll Always Remember
Biography By Mick Ronson (I think)
Krist Novoselic,
Dave Grohl
Kurt Cobain