So much has been said and written about this Grunge legend, so here are some facts you may not have known about the special man Kurt Cobain:
(Photo: Michel Linssen)
1. In his suicide note, Cobain quoted Neil Young's song "My My Hey Hey (Into The Black)" The sentence: "It's better to burn out than to fade away,".
When Neil Young discovered this he was so shocked that he dedicated an entire album to Kurt.
2. He hated playing the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" which was often omitted from the band's setlist in gigs and if played then Cobain completely corrupted it.
3. Cobain's two cousins also committed suicide, they suffered from bipolar disorder. There are rumors that although it is known that Cobain's suicide was mainly due to depression caused by the life span that changed from end to end, Cobain's fear of suffering resemblance to his cousins was also a reason for suicide.
4. Cobain had one tattoo he made by himself on his hand. The logo with the letter K of the Indian record company from Washington, K Records, which engraved on its banner the following motto:
"Exploding the teenage underground into passionate revolt against the corporate ogre since 1982."
5. Before he began his musical career Cobain was a swimming instructor for children at the YMCA in Aberdeen.
6. After he dropped out of school his mother forced him to go to work or leave home and he started working as a maintenance janitor at the school where he attended.
7. Nirvana's bassist Krist Novoselic and Cobain were musicians in a cover band from Cobain's hometown Aberdeen, they played songs by the band "Creedence Clearwater Revival".
(Photo: Martyn Goodacre)
8. Before Nirvana, Cobain formed a punk-rock band called "Fecal Matter" along with Melvin's drummer Dale Crover who played bass in this band, and Greg Hokanson on drums. The only song they recorded was "Spank Thru".
9. At the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, Cobain had an unpleasant incident with Axl Rose that began with a misunderstanding on Axl's part, but continued with harassment from both sides, at one point Duff and Slash were shaking Cobain's RV with Courtney and their daughter Francis inside. The incident ended with Cobain spitting on the piano that Axl was supposed to perform at the event, but in the end, it turns out that with this piano Elton John comes up to perform when Axl is on the other piano.
(Photo: Jesse Frohman)
10. Cobain suffered from stage anxiety and was often vomiting before going on stage.
11. Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love were married in February 1992 on the beach in Waikiki, Hawaii while wearing pajamas. Courtney was pregnant and the ceremony was attended by 8 people including Dave Grohl.
(Photo: Courtney Love)
12. Cobain began using drugs following chronic abdominal pain from which he suffered almost all his life. At one point he got tired of all the medicinal medicines that did not help and he started consuming heroin.
13. The reason why in most of the photos and videos you see Cobain with long clothes and layers upon layers of fabric, is mainly because he did not like the shape of his body. He was very aware of what he looked like and would laugh at himself many times because he did not like his physique.
14. In 1993, Cobain was arrested in a completely delusional incident. Police arrested Cobain for allegedly pushing and strangling his wife Courtney Love, but Courtney claims she and Cobain heard loud music in the house when suddenly 5-6 cops broke into the house and arrested Cobain. He was released on $ 950 bail.
15. Cobain tried to commit suicide at least three times before he eventually succeeded. He tried to commit suicide twice by overdosing on drugs and in March 1994 when he locked himself in a closet with a gun and drugs, Courtney called the police who took the drugs and the gun but it did not help because a month later, in April he committed suicide by shooting himself.
16. Cobain took his place at the 27th Club known as "Forever Club 27" which has members including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, and Jim Morrison.
17. At the end of the episode of "Saturday Night Live" in which "Nirvana" appeared, Chris and Dave started flirting during the subtitles on stage, Cobain who noticed what was happening joined the two and started kissing Chris. The director cut off the section in the editing.
18. While "Nirvana" became a dizzying success Cobain was interested in performing at the International Pop Underground festival in the city of Olympia. An underground festival for young bands, which was an integral part of his childhood and the music scene on which he grew up. But since "Nirvana" was too big for the festival, the organizers refused Cobain's offer and he was very hurt by the rejection.
19. Cobain wanted to give "Nirvana's" latest album, released in 1993 under the name "In Utero", the name "I Hate Myself and I Want to Die".
20. When he was 9 his parents divorced. The event was very difficult for him as he felt that his mother hated his father, his father hated his mother and they both hated him.
21. Because of heavy pressure from fans and various assassination theories, Seattle police decided to reopen the case of Cobain's suicide investigation in 2014. They were able to create clearer images of that incident and finally determined he died as a result of suicide and no other reason.
22. Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan was among the last to see Kurt alive. He was with him on the same flight to Seattle, he saw that his mental state was poor and invited him to his home. Kurt refused, and two days later he committed suicide.
23. In April 2015, HBO released a documentary about Cobain's life called "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck".
The same documentary was released with a soundtrack consisting of songs that Cobain recorded at his home. Listen to the soundtrack Montage Of Heck: The Home Recordings.
24. Kurt Cobain was born on February 20, 1967, in Aberdeen, Washington. His full name is Kurt Donald Cobain. Cobain's body was discovered on April 8, 1994, but according to the investigation report, he committed suicide on April 5.
25. In an interview with his friend Dave Grohl in February 2021 on the release of Foo Fighters' tenth album, he noted that Cobain's death was one of the most painful events of his life and that Kurt was one of the greatest songwriters of our generation:
"It is one of my life’s greatest heartbreaks that Kurt isn’t still here to write more amazing songs because it’s pretty clear that he was blessed with a gift. I think it’s safe to say that he was the greatest songwriter of our generation"
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