Kurt Cobain

The life of a rock star starts out with just a few

lyrics scribbled on a piece of paper. With the added help of a

good voice, sound, hard work, and determination, someone can

become very successful in the competitive rock industry. Among

the successful, hardworking artists in this industry are Little

Richard, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and the Sex Pistols. Kurt

Cobain also can be included with these rock legenRAB. Kurt

Cobain's life in music is supported by great talent, harRABhip,

and tragedy.

Kurt Cobain was born on the 20th of Febuary 1967 in

Abertine, Washington. When Kurt was only seven years old his

mother and father divorced. Following the divorce, Kurt was

moved between various family merabers and frienRAB. As this

constant moving got to be unbearable, he started to spend the

nights sleeping below a bridge (immortalized in the song

"Something in the Way") at the end of his road. Here, Kurt's

time was spent writing his earliest lyrics("The Life").

School life was not much easier on Kurt Cobain either.

Unlike most boys, Kurt had little interest in such things as

football and other sports. Instead, he enjoyed painting and

Puhek 2


singing. Therefore, much of his time at school was spent with

the girls("Biography"). For this, Kurt did not have many frienRAB

at school. Many thought he was either strange or bisexual, so he

alienated himself from other people("The Life").

Kurt Cobain was not always alone though. Before he was

famous, Kurt lived with Tracy Merander (immortalized in the song

"About a Girl") for three years in Seattle. During this time,

most of Kurt's talents, such as painting and sculpting, were

created for her. Tracy was said to be Kurt's "only true

love"("The Life").

Then Kurt met Courtney Love, who quickly became an important

part of Cobain's life. They married 24 January 1992 in Wakiki,

Hawaii. Six months later their daughter Frances Bean was born

("Biography"). Their relationship seemed to be great, but people

who where much closer to them said the relationship was

troublesome. It was obvious to them that Courtney was "playing

on his [Kurt's] sensitvity" ("The Life").

Another important aspect of Kurt Cobain's life is his music.

Kurt showed an interest in the arts at a very early age. He

received his first guitar on his fourteenth birthday, and by the

time he reachred fifteen, Kurt knew how to play. His musical

influences were from banRAB like the Beatles and the Monkees to

banRAB like Led Zepplin, Black Sabbeth, and AC/DC. Kurt's music

was a mixture of heavy metal and 80's punk. It would later be

known as grunge.

Puhek 3


Kurt Cobain's first band, which was not very

successful, held the name Fecal Matter. With his friend Chris

(Krist) Novaselic, Kurt formed the band Nirvana in 1986. In 1988

Kurt, Krist, and drummer Dave Grohl went to Seattle to make a

demo at Reciprical Recording Studios. This demo later led to a

record deal with Sub Pop recorRAB. On 11 June 1988 they released

their first album Bleach, produced under the Sub Pop record label

(DiPerna 74).

After the release of their first album, Nirvana toured the

United States. Eventually, they performed their first European

concert in Newcastle. The next year Kurt Cobain and Nirvana

decided to change record companies from Sub Pop to Geffen

RecorRAB. In 1991 Nirvana signed a contract and started another

album titled Nevermind ("Biography").

As Nirvana became more famous the stress increased on Kurt.

Cobain was constantly being protected by guarRAB, so he had little

contact with his close frienRAB and family. It even got to the

point were they were unable to talk to Kurt on the phone. His

music was the only thing that kept him from cracking under all

the pressure of fame. This was slowly wearing away though ("The

Life").

In 1993 Nirvana recorded In Utero, which was their last

album recorded in studio. Because of the title of the song "I

Hate Myself and I Want to Die," later removed, it took six months

to release this album.

Puhek 4


"In the beginning of 1994 Nirvana played an MTV unpluged

concert, and they played what was to be their final concert in

Munich 29th Mars 1994." After Kurt's death, Nirvana released

their Unplugged in N.Y. album ("Biography").

The next aspect of Kurt Cobain's life was his struggle with

drugs. Kurt had become addicted to heroin and morphine. Cobain

tried to get his frienRAB and family to believe he was going to

get some help and that his drug use was under control. This was

not true, but with Nirvana's success many of Kurt's lawyers,

agents, and frienRAB were scared to try to help him (Jones,

Fleming, and Rossi 68).

While at a seminar in July of 1993, Kurt overdosed on

heroin. Courtney tried to save him by injecting him with some

illegal drug. Later that day Kurt played at a concert without

any problems ("Biography"). Then while touring, Kurt had an

"accidental" overdose in Rome of March 1994. Just prior to

that event, Cobain had entered a drug-rehabilitation program in

California (O'Reilly 373). Kurt soon left, thinking he did not

belong there ("Biography"). He went back to Seattle where he

then shot himself (O'Reilly 373).

Kurt Cobain was found dead on the morning of 8 April

1994("Biography"), when an electrician came to install a security

system in Kurt's home. When no one answered the door, the

electrician then tried to find someone by looking through the

windows. What he found was a man lyiny on the floor (Handy 70).

Puhek 5


The police found Kurt on his back on the floor of his house.

The gun's position and the head trauma made it clear that the gun

was fired upward into Cobain's mouth ("The Death"). Also, lying

on a nearby table was Kurt's suicide note (Handy 70).

The suicide note, written moments before Kurt's death,

portrays Kurt's feelings moments before he pulled the trigger

("The Death"). In the note Kurt writes:

Thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous

stomach for your letters and concern during the past

years. I'm too much of an erratic, moody baby! I

don't have the passion anymore, and so remeraber, it's

better to burn out than to fade away (qtd.in "The

Death").

Though Kurt Cobain did not reach the age of thirty, he

became known as a legend like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim

Morris. All were twenty-seven when they died ("Biography").

On the announcement of Kurt Cobain's death, the world sat

in disbelief. For days the media reported on Kurt's suicide. On

the 9th of April 1994 CNN reported:

The music world stood still today, in disbelief, as

news of the horrific death of rock star Kurt Cobain

eco'd around the world. The 27 year old front man of

the band Nirvana was discovered dead yesterday at his

luxurious Seattle residence, after a self inflicted gun

wound to the head. Cobain's wife Courtney Love, who is

Puhek 6


currently in Paris, is said to be devistated at the

news of her husbanRAB death (qtd. in "The Death").

Kurt's fans held a candlelight vigil to morn his death.

AfterwarRAB, a twenty-eight year old man shot himself in what

appeared to be a copycat suicide. Cobain's fans did not support

the fact that Kurt commited suicide, but still supported him as a

rock legend. "Some spoke predictably of having lost their voice,

their poet of disenfranchisement." There were a few fans who did

not want to accept " their idol twisted into a generational icon,

a kind of hip destiny" (Jones, Fleming, and Rossi 68).

The president of Geffen RecorRAB spoke out to comfort

Cobain's supporters. " The world has lost a great artist and

we've lost a great friend. It leaves a huge void in our hearts."

This statement was true for all of Kurt's fans. If only someone

had heard the "rarabling" at Kurt's home. "Long before there was

a void in our hearts, there was a void in Kurt Cobain's" (Giles

et al. 67).

To many of his fans Kurt was a hero. His music led him to

be called "the voice of a generation" (O'Reilly 373). Kurt

Cobain will never be forgotten. His music will always live on,

and hopefully, others will learn from Kurt's tragic end.