Kurt Donald Cobain was born on February 20, 1976 in Hoquaim, a small town south-west of Seattle. When he was about six months old he moved to Arberdeen and spent most of his childhood there. His parents divorced when he was seven years old. Cobain did not handle the divorce well. Cobain said that he never felt loved or secure again (Ronson, 1996). He became anti-social and withdrawn after the divorce. Cobain was passed around to several relatives and even lived under a bridge at one point.
After Cobain’s parent’s divorced, he lived with his mom in a trailer park for a year. Cobain then lived with his father in Montesano. His father made him participate in sports. Cobain would intentionally not perform well while playing sports to get back at his dad. Cobain decided to learn how to play guitar instead of playing sports. He enjoyed reading and doing other artistic activities. Cobain’s interests made him a target for bullies. (Wilson, 1996)
Cobain was a sickly child. “As an infant, he suffered from chronic bronchitis and scoliosis, and, by the age of seven, he was being prescribed both Ritalin and sedatives to allow him to sleep” (Headlam, 1996). Cobain complained of burning stomach pain that kept him from participating in gym class.
In 1985 Cobain started the band Nirvana. The band went through several changes before finally becoming Nirvana. In 1987 the band was playing in several locations. In 1988 the band landed their first record deal. Cobain’s music mainstreamed the grunge sound. Nirvana rose very quickly to become stars. “Nirvana was, briefly, the most popular band in the world largely because of the cult of personality that grew around Cobain” (Headlam, 1996).
After Nirvana released the album Nevermind, Cobain married Courtney Love. “Love shared Cobain’s penchant for self-destruction, but none of his ambivalence about fame. Together they went on a drug taking spree that resulted a few times in Cobain nearly dying and Love taking heroin during her pregnancy” (Headlam, 1996). Cobain claimed that the birth of his daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, made him a different man. He claimed that he was a doting father and husband. It is believed that the drug use continued though.
“On March 5th , 1994 Cobain was rushed to the hospital in a coma after an unsuccessful suicide bid in which he washed down about fifty prescription painkillers with champagne” (Ronson, 1996). The attempt was not made known to many people.
road-life and drug abuse. When he came out of the coma the Dead made a tribute
Sheff references Kurt Cobain’s suicide note saying “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” This seems to comes to represent what seems to be Nic’s ending unless he gets the help he needs. Nic was on a path that was seeming to lead to death by overdose, in which he would “burn out” instead of being able to “fade away like an old soldier”. Kurt Cobain is referenced again when Sheff states that he “wants to scream like Kurt Cobain. I want to scream at him.” This gives insight as to how the musical stylings of Kurt Cobain seem to be a trigger for David Sheff’s memories of his addict of a son. These references illustrate the emotion that is being felt by the author while making connections to the life of a famous man who was a great influence on Sheff’s
Kurt was an extremely happy child. He would wake up everyday so happy. He was
“When Elvis died results soon were identified several pharmaceutical drugs in Elvis’s system with codeine being ten times the therapeutic level. This started accusations of a cover-up and suggesting conspiracy theories of a sinister criminal act. Pushing 40 years after, modern medicine and forensics took a new look at the Presley case facts and indicated that something entirely different from a heart attack or a drug overdose really killed the King of Rock & Roll” (Rodgers). Many people believe that Elvis provoked to his fans that drugs were ok. Even though Elvis made a mistake, he has so many exceptional influences to cancel out that mistake. Wayne Dyer once said, “When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.” Elvis was a pleasing, religious, uplifting man. Do not judge him for personal mistakes he
When Cobain's journal was released it became an important source. A lot of lyrics relating to; emotional stress, break ups, angst, anger at situations or people. Some of the sources included literature such as the novel “Perfume” by Parrick Suskind which is about an apprentice in a perfume shop who has an amazing sense of smell but no sent of his own and becomes a murderer of young girls for their sent (Scentless Apprentice). Also newspaper articles (Polly).
Suicide is the most accepted theory to Kurt Cobain’s death, gaining support from not only the Seattle Police Department but Cobain’s own family at the time of death. Cobain was reported to have been clinically depressed for the majority of his life and was crippled with severe drug addiction. In photographs taken of the body viewers can plainly see the medical bracelet for the drug rehab center he had broken out of. He was completely dependent on heroin and was quoted saying “This is the only thing saving me from blowing my head off”. Band members also reported that Cobain was disconnected from his friends and family during his final days. Photos of Kurt Cobain’s body have been stated to show Cobain splayed out on the floor with a shotgun firmly gripped in his hand and a box of
The biggest influential song on Nirvana’s Nevermind album was the first song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” It reached number 6 on the Top 40 Charts. This song was groundbreaking for Nirvana and the alternative music scene as a whole. After the release of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” white, middle-class youth of the United States finally had a style of music to call their own and express their “teenage anthems” (Stuessy, Joe). This was the first song to emerge from alternative rock and to be known in the mainstream of rock and roll, expressing their generation’s expectations, “...here we are now, entertain us”(Stuessy, Joe). “Smells like Teen Spirit” was Curt Cobain’s “attempt to write the ultimate pop song”(Nevermind, Nirvana). He used the soft-loud dynamics of his favorite band, the Pixies. The insidious hooks also showed his admiration for the Beatle’s John Lennon(Nevermind, Nirvana). The style used in this song is simple, plain, loud, and straight-forward. Musically, there is nothing very “innovative” or difficult. However, the reason it is important to rock history is because it brought America’s attention to the once before underground style of grunge. “A driving drum beat, powered by Novelsek’s rhythmic bass, and a memorable guitar riff and solo, mix perfectly with Kurt Cobain’s depressing yet humorous lyrics” (Kastner, Patrick). While it has certainly been overplayed in the past years, it is still an essential part of Rock history.
Music can also help people, particularly those going through painful times (such as adolescence) to understand that they are not alone and that other people have the same feelings that they do. After grunge-rock superstar Kurt Cobain committed suicide in April 1994, one fan wrote to Rolling Stone magazine describing how the music of Cobain's band, Nirvana, made her feel. "I could be feeling like total shit," wrote Carrie Loy, "and hear a Nirvana song and end up feeling renewed afterward.
He died 26 years ago this week in a London hotel room, with a girlfriend who couldn't make up her mind to call an ambulance. James Marshall Hendrix had ingested nine German sleeping pills, some wine, and a meal of brown rice. He was 27 years old.
His fame continued to grow, until 1993, when things took a turn for the worse. Michael was accused of child sexual abuse. He denied these claims, and the little boy’s family was finally settled out of court. It was around this same time in the 1990’s that Michael was struggling with a drug addiction (Merkin, 2009).
Recent speculations have fans, reporters, and investigators questioning the death of musician Kurt Cobain that was a reported suicide case. Cobain’s body was found with shotgun wound to his head on April 8th by an electrician at the couples Washington lake house. The same day Cobain’s body was found, news was released that the singer had committed suicide. With lack of investigation Cobain’s body was cremated 6 days after his body was found. The Seattle P.D. withheld the shotgun for 30 days before it was processed for fingerprints; the shotgun was then given back to Courtney Love to be discarded. The Seattle P.D. also condoned the greenhouse that Kurt Cobain’s body was found be torn down. With that, questions arise on whether or not the death was a suicide or a homicide in the matter. Did Courtney Love the beloved musician’s wife plan and set up the death of her
He later referenced Freddie Mercury again in his suicide note when he took his life on April 5th of 1994. “I haven't felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music along with reading and writing for too many years now. I feel guilty beyond words about these things. For example when we're back stage and the lights go out and the manic roar of the crowds begins., it doesn't affect me the way in which it did for Freddie Mercury, who seemed to love, relish in the love and adoration from the crowd which is something I totally admire and envy,” (Cobain “Letter”). Along with Kurt Cobain, Freddie inspired his own stand in to become a
W hat went wrong I thought to myself? I remember hearing the news of his death on a local radio station. I've been a Sublime fan since my senior year of high school. The single "Date Rape" made the Chicago airwaves and I was hooked. I did a little research and I discovered that Bradley had been in and out of rehabilitation centers since 1992. Many people that I've talked to about Bradley's death really didn't seem to care. Being a huge Sublime fan, I was angered by their ignorance. Most of the time I heard people say that it was Bradley's fault for taking the drug in the first place, but I came to realize that it really wasn't his fault. Troy Nowell says in the VH1 documentary on Bradley that obviously the drug was "bigger than both of us (Bradley and Troy)". She said he hated what he was doing, and tried to stop numerous times, but the world is ignorant to the fact that this drug, heroin, is extremely physically addictive. Bud Gaugh, the drummer of Sublime, said he used to hug, sweat, and cry with Bradley during his fight with heroin. If it were his choice, Bradley would've stopped using it, but heroin took a hold of his nerves and his entire body.
DeRogatis, Jim. (2002). A piece of Kurt Cobain. In JimDero.com. Retrieved July 21, 2010, from
Wood, Jessica. "Pained expression: metaphors of sickness and signs of 'authenticity' in Kurt Cobain's "Journals"." JSTOR. Version