Kurt Cobain is dead: 12 years on

Today (April 5th) marks the 12th anniversary of the death of Nirvana founder and frontman Kurt Cobain, who killed himself with a shotgun at his Seattle home at the age of 27, leaving behind a small yet incredibly significant body of music. Nirvana was one of many bands to emerge from the Pacific Northwest "grunge" scene, leaping to the front of the pack and giving the world and the media a face to put to the entire alternative music genre.

Born in Aberdeen, Washington, on February 20th, 1967, Cobain lived with various relatives after his parents divorced. Cobain met bassist Krist Novoselic in 1985, forming Nirvana with him in the late '80s. The group settled in Seattle and got signed to Sub Pop Records, with its debut album, Bleach, arriving in 1989. A six-song demo produced by Butch Vig led to a deal with DGC/Geffen Records, while Dave Grohl signed on as the band's permanent drummer. The band recorded their second album during the summer of 1991, and the disc, titled Nevermind, arrived in September of that year.

Nevermind became a colossal hit, bolstered by the single and video, "Smells Like Teen Spirit." An authentic rock anthem, the song captured the alienation, frustration, and apathy of young people worldwide. The song rocketed to the top of the radio charts as Nevermind went on to sell over 14 million copies. Krist Novoselic told us why he thinks Nirvana took off so explosively. "Well, it was a phenomenon. I think a lot of it was timing as what was going on in the music business. And a lot of the Sunset Strip hair bands were past their prime and people were ready for something new. Nirvana always tried to be sincere."

In February of 1992, Kurt married Hole frontperson Courtney Love, and the couple had their first and only child, Frances Bean Cobain, in August of that year. In the spring of 1993, Nirvana recorded its third album, In Utero. The album came out that fall, selling strongly and garnering positive acclaim. But the shadows of drug use and depression were growing. Kurt had reportedly overdosed several times during 1993, and on a post-tour vacation in Rome in early March of 1994, he tried to commit suicide with an overdose of the tranquilizer Rohypnol and champagne.

On April 5th, back home in Seattle, Cobain wrote a long farewell letter, took a mixture of heroin and valium, and shot himself in the mouth. His body was discovered three days later, on the 8th, by an electrician, and cremated on April 14th. A public memorial service in Seattle on April 10th drew 7,000 fans.

In the twelve years since Cobain's death, MTV Unplugged In New York, an electric live album called From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah, a greatest hits collection and a deluxe boxed set loaded with rarities have all surfaced. Grohl went on to form Foo Fighters, while Novoselic dabbled in music and politics.

Nirvana's music brought rebellion, raw emotion, and a punk attitude back to rock music at a time when it was sorely needed. And while the fronman was anointed as the spokesman -- even after his death -- for what came to be called "Generation X," his own tortured reluctance to accept that role mirrored the confusion felt by Nirvana fans over their identity, their gender, and their place in the world. Despite all this, his musical legacy endures.

TRIBUTES TO KURT COBAIN:

Three Days Grace drummer Neil Sanderson says it's Kurt Cobain's integrity that made the biggest impact on him and his band: "He was an inspiration to me and all the members of our band, for a lot of reasons, including the fact that he was just absolutely real and genuine. And the music, you know, all of those creative elements, were reflections of his life and none of the ideas were ever contrived. They were real, they were a real band."

Metallica's Lars Ulrich says that Nirvana's music shows no signs of getting stale with age. "The music gets better and better. It ages so well. Some bands that you sit and listen to, and it just sounds completely silly a few years later, but that Nirvana stuff, when you hear it on the radio nowadays, it sounds as vital and vibrant as it did 10, 12 years ago, when it first came out. And one can only obviously wonder what other cool stuff would've come out of that whole thing."

Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell was coming up on the Seattle music scene at the same time as Nirvana and ran into the frontman occasionally. "I didn't really know Kurt that well, but there was a guy I always admired. We didn't spent much time together, but the few times we did spend together, you know, were times I'll always remember. You know, he was a really sweet guy, and a really genuine soul, you know, and an incredibly talented artist."

Judas Priest singer Rob Halford sums up what Kurt Cobain meant to rock music. "He was an absolute genius. In the legacy of rock and roll music, he'll be there with, like, Hendrix and Lennon and Joplin and Morrison. Incredibly evocative, inspiring, controversial, human musician. For me, there's been nothing great since Nirvana, in the way it shook up the world. There's been nothing great since that band."
Submit the above story to:

Del.icio.us   Digg   reddit   StumbleUpon   Facebook