I'm going to be a super star musician, kill myself and go out in a flame of glory
- Kurt Cobain told a school friend

Kurt Donald Cobain was the lead singer and songwriter for Nirvana. His songs made him and the band a success for absolutely everyone could find something that resonated with them from his music to the lyrics. For Anton Brookes, Nirvana's former UK Press Officer, Cobain was many things: It's not Kurt the voice of a generation, it's Kurt the friend, Kurt the father, Kurt the band member. He was down-to-earth and a really nice guy. He was really warm and caring, and he was very vulnerable. However, it was the essence that made him such a huge success, his frustration and confusion with the world, that ultimately led to his downfall.

Catastrophic Childhood

I remember feeling ashamed all the time. I desperately wanted to have the classic, you know, typical family
- Kurt Cobain

Kurt Donald Cobain was born on 20 February, 1967, in Aberdeen near Seattle, Washington. His environmental conditioning made him destined for life in the logging industry and in doing so he would grow up to be what they perceived to be a man. However, he lost faith in humans from an early age having seen his parents, Don and Wendy Cobain, split up when he was nine meaning he had to live with different relatives and according to a song he later wrote, even being left to sleep rough under a bridge. He was also prescribed methylphenidate (commonly known as Ritalin) as he was hyperactive. As a result Cobain was a troubled child who ended up fighting against the very conventions that people set up in life.

Rebellious Youth

I do not want to have a long career if I have to put up with the same stuff that I'm putting up with. I'm trying it one last time, and if it's more of a pleasant year for us, then fine, we'll have a career. But I'm not going to subject myself to being stuck in an apartment building for the next 10 years and being afraid to go out-side of my house. It's not worth it.
- Kurt Cobain

Cobain eventually dropped out of school and alongside fellow band member Krist Novoselic began forming the band Nirvana. The band officially came together in 1987, comprising of band members Cobain, bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dale Crover¹.

Of course even then the band could not entirely escape the societal strings that held them for the clothes they wore, thrift-shop plaid shirts and torn jeans, held tight to the logging background where they had come from. Even when it became fashionable to wear these pieces and designer manufacturers were releasing their own take on them there was no denying where the idea had first started.

Nirvana's first album Bleach, released in 1989 under Sub Pop Records, is a prime example of rebellion against the mainstream music industry. Amongst the tracks on this album lies a ballad entitled About a Girl, which was written with Tracy Marander, Cobain's ex-girlfriend, in mind. Cobain was said to be unsure about putting this track on the album and listened to Meet the Beatles numerous times before putting pen to paper. The album cost $606 to make and over 30,000 copies were sold. Although this is certainly small for a band it made way for tours that would showcase their talents and rebellious streak in breaking up their equipment at the end of their shows.

By the 1990s Nirvana had made it into the mainstream music industry and was no longer seen as rebelling against it but buying into it instead, something the band never set out to do. They toured Europe where the company Geffen bought out the contract to the band and released the album Nevermind in 1991, which sold in excess of 10 million copies globally knocking Michael Jackson off the top spot. One track in particular that had a lot to blame for the rise in popularity of the band was 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', which takes its title from the words spraypainted on one of his apartment walls by the lead singer of Bikini Kill, Katherine Hanna, who was friend's and in the same band as Cobain's ex-girlfriend Tobi Vail. Unbeknown to Cobain Teen Spirit was the name of a deodorant used by females and he used it as a catchphrase. The content came about after his reading of Thomas Pynchon's novel, Gravity's Rainbow. Due to the popularity of the song Cobain grew to dislike it and began to avoid playing it at gigs.

As a way of coping both with the success of the band which brought up deep rooted anxieties in Cobain, and the physical pain he suffered from stomach ulcers, Cobain began mixing heroin with alcohol in the 1990s.

In 1991 he met fellow singer Courtney Love at a gig and a year later married her in Hawaii. A few of Cobain's fans were wary of his relationship with Love but Carolyn Rue who was in the same band as Love (Hole) said he: worked out some of his aggression through her.

That same year, Nirvana released Incesticide and Cobain became the father to Frances Bean². Cobain's drug habit, issue with royalties and custody battle over who had the rights to bring up his own child after Love had told Vanity Fair that she had absorbed drugs well into her pregnancy nearly destroyed the band but it took one final blow from music producer Steve Albini to help them shed their star quality completely. The result was their third album In Utero, which was released in 1993 and was seen to be darker than its predecessors; the album features songs including 'I do not want what I have got', 'What's wrong with me?', 'All Apologies' and 'Heart Shaped Box', and references to suicide can clearly be seen. The album worked and the band started losing many of their followers.

Death of a Legend

In March 1994 Cobain ingested an overdose that led to a 20 minute coma. His PR claimed the incident to be 'an accident', but after fleeing a drugs detox programme in April of that same year, he entered a granny flat behind his Seattle home and ended his life. Cobain's body was discovered 34 hours later when an electrician called Gary Smith was visiting the house to carry out maintenance to the property. When police arrived on the scene they found Cobain with a shotgun still pointed at his chin and a suicide note. The note reveals his struggle with being famous and the success that came with it. In his suicide note he stated that: Since the age of seven, I've become hateful towards all humans in general and points out that he couldn't cope with success like Freddie Mercury from Queen did. He wrote that Queen appeared to relish in the love and adoration from the crowd which is something I totally admire and envy.

As a mark of respect to the singer and songwriter, many of his fans marked his departure from this world by holding rallies and vigils in his honour. Ten years later they did so again and a music store, Virgin Megastore, in London enabled people to pay their respects to the legend.

According to Forbes.com the richest dead celebrity is said to be Cobain, with Elvis Presley and John Lennon not doing as well. This is mainly due to the fact that Courtney Love sold 25 per cent of the songs he wrote to a music company called Primary Wave.

What People Have Said

As a songwriter, Kurt was really one of the greatest talents of pop music. His songs were so emotional and so full of personal pain. The sad thing is what we've lost on the music scene. Regretfully, his body of work is small. He could have done so much more.
- Charles Cross, editor of the Rocket, a Seattle music magazine

He sort of had a depressive streak but he basically seemed optimistic and had ideas for the future, but I think he was pretty overwhelmed in general by his fame.
- Lori Goldston, a cellist who once toured with Nirvana

He was also in a fair amount of psychic pain. He was a very sensitive person, sweet and bright, which are not the best qualities to have if you are a rock star.
- Mr Azerrad

Further Reading

More information regarding the life and death of Kurt Cobain can be read about in the following books.

• Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain
• Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana