KURT COBAIN
BIRTH: February 20, 1967,
Aberdeen, Washington, U.S.
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DEATH: April 5, 1994,
Seattle, Washington
kurt Donald Cobain was an American rock musician. he was the singer, guitarist and songwriter of Nirvana, an American grunge band. Cobain is the most popular rock legend of the 1990s.
Cobain was born on 20th February, 1967 in Aberdeen, Washington. When his parents separated, he was nine years old. He also got separated from his younger sister, Kimberly. He started living with his father and his new family. His behavior turned increasingly bitter towards his parents and so he was moved to a family friend’s (Jesse Reed) house. They were devout Christians and Cobain felt drawn to the religion
for a short while. His song “Lithium” describes his stay with the Reed family. He began to live with his mother in his second year of high school. Cobain left Aberdeen High School just two weeks
before his graduation. Cobain’s mother threw him out of the house as he was unemployed.
Cobain lived a homeless, nomadic life from 1984-85. He stayed with some friends, he would also sneak into his mother’s basement from time to time. He came to be friends with Buzz Osbourne, the founding member of the local punk rock band, Melvins in the mid-1980s. At the Melvins practice space, Cobain met Krist Novoselic. They formed a band together in 1987.
In 1988, the band decided upon the name “Nirvana”. They released their first single “Love Buzz” in 1988 through an independent record label, Sub Pop Records. The following year they released their first album ‘Bleach! It had a punk base with heavy metal sounds. Their first drummer was Aaron Burckhard. He was replaced by Chad Channing in 1988. In 1990, the band toured with Sonic Youth. Dave Grohl became a part of the band at this time. He replaced Channing as Cobain became unhappy with Channing’s style. Nirvana joined Geffen Records in 1991. Their album ‘Nevermind’ was released in the same year. It was the first alternative rock album to gain popular success; it was actually their greatest
success as a band. Its single, “Smells like Teen Spirit”, topped the music charts. Cobain was declared the best songwriter of the generation, a title he struggled to accept. Cobain was just 24 years old then.
In the September of 1993, their album ‘In Utero’ came out, it shot to the number one spot on music charts. Its singles, “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” and “Heart Shaped-Box”, were quite a hit. In the fall of 1993 they performed for MTV’s Unplugged in New York City.
In 2003, David Fricke of Rolling Stone honored Cobain as the twelfth greatest guitarist of all time. MTV ranked him seventh in their list of 22 Greatest Voices in Music. In 2004, the Kurt Cobain Memorial Committee put up a sign “Come As You Are” at Aberdeen, Washington in his honor. The committee was created in May 2004 to honor Cobain. Cobain was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 along with other members of Nirvana, Novoselic and Dave Grohl. Michael Azerrad published a book in 1993 called Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana.
Kurt Cobain met Courtney Love at a Portland Nightclub in 1989. Courtney Love was the lead singer and guitarist of the band, Hole. They got married in February 1992 and in the same year their daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, was born.
On 8th April, 1994, an electrician found Cobain’s dead body at his Lake Washington Boulevard home. He had reportedly died on 5th April, 1994. He was 27 years old. He continues to be remembered amongst the music legends. Cobain was cremated and his remains scattered in Wishkah River, Washington. On his death anniversary, many of his fans visit Viretta Park, near his Lake Washington home, to pay tribute.
He was the topic of many posthumous works. The book Heavier than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain by Charles R. Cross was published in 2001. Documentaries based on him include Kurt and Courtney (1998) and Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015).
Nirvana released their Unplugged session after Cobain’s death. It topped the album charts. On
October 1, 1996, the band released a collection of songs, ‘From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah. It
was also a commercial success. ‘Nirvana’ (2002), ‘With the Lights Out’ (2004) and ‘Silver: The Best
of the Box’ (2005) were other albums released by Grohl, Novoselic and Love post Cobain’s death.