Historical Figure
Kurt Cobain
1967–1994
American rock musician (1967–1994)
Hear Their Voice
Original recordings and AI voice
"About a Son Interview" — 1993
Generated by Today in History
Talk to Kurt Cobain
Have a conversation with this historical figure through AI
Biography
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establishment persona, he widened the thematic conventions of mainstream rock music. He was heralded as a spokesman of Generation X, and is widely recognized as one of the most influential rock musicians.
Timeline
The story of Kurt Cobain, told in moments.
Forms Nirvana with Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen. They play house parties and dive bars. Their first album, Bleach, costs $606.17 to record. Sub Pop releases it to modest sales.
Nevermind comes out on September 24. 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is the first single. MTV puts it in heavy rotation. By January, the album has knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the Billboard chart. Cobain is 24. He hates being famous.
Marries Courtney Love in February on Waikiki Beach. Their daughter Frances Bean is born in August. He's using heroin. He tells Rolling Stone he has chronic stomach pain that nothing else treats. The pain and the addiction feed each other.
Found dead in the greenhouse above his garage in Seattle. A shotgun and a note. He's 27. Nirvana had played their last concert three weeks earlier in Munich. The note quotes Neil Young: 'It's better to burn out than to fade away.' Young later says he was angry about being quoted.
In Their Own Words (20)
Teenage angst has paid off wellNow I'm bored and old.
Serve the Servants., 1993
Meat eating orchids forgive no one just yetCut myself on angel hair and baby's breathBroken hymen of your highness, I'm left blackThrow down your umbilical noose so I can climb right back.
Heart-Shaped Box., 1993
I would like to think there's some purity in us, yeah. Naive - y'know, purposely naive.
From an interview on MTV with Zeca Camargo, 1993-01-21, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1993
Same thing happened in the punk movement in the late 70's...a punk band would start, play one gig, and get signed to a major label right away, 'cause it [was] a trend. That just shows there are a lot of old school dinosaurs in the record industry who need to be weeded out.
Date unknown, but believed to be 1992-06-30 in Sweden ., 1992
Just because you're paranoidDon't mean they're not after you.This quote is generally attributed to Joseph Heller from his novel Catch-22, although it appears to be from the film version only (screenplay by Buck Henry.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AParanoia
Territorial Pissings., 1991
Artifacts (6)
Grafisch paneel uit de serie Jong! 1992 "Smells like teen spirit"
grafische beelden: 75B, Robert Beckland, Rens Muis, Pieter Vos / concept: Ari Versluis, Ellie Uyttenbroek, Isis Vaandrager, 75B
Phi Psi Cli (electronic resource) (IA phipsicli1999elon)
Elon University Elon College Open Content Alliance
Seattle Mail and Herald, v. 7, no. Progress, Dec. 19, 1903 - DPLA - 86766e2958f27c46f6ee4c9267f9e82c (page 18)
Hampton, Edgar L
Ensemble bestaande uit gebloemd jasje, zwart T-shirt en effen donkerblauwe korte broek
http://data.europeana.eu/agent/78466
All of us together—states and UN—must do our utmost to ensure that any kind of a...
ptable that there be UN forces committing human rights violations such as rape and sexual violence. "All of us together—states and UN—must do our utmost to ensure that any kind of action of this type...
More from the Postwar
Explore what happened on the days that shaped Kurt Cobain's life. Today In History connects historical figures with the events, births, and deaths that defined their era. Browse all historical figures or explore today's events.