Lead singer and guitarist for Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, was an idol for many teenagers and the start of a grunge movement shirts, ripped jeans, rebelliousness, etc. Though, that movement was brief, and came to an end in many ways when he passed away from an alleged suicide on April 5, 1994.
Cobain began singing from a young age and once he began writing songs, he was a storyteller and a genius at the same time. The events that transpired in his life were definitely what influenced his music and songwriting.
Cobain had a happy childhood for the first eight years of his life, but when he was nine, his parents divorced. That left Cobain withdrawn, angry and defiant, and it changed his personality. Fast forward years later, his band Nirvana is facing many successes.
Throughout Cobain’s music career, he became a more known figure and that concept was highly disliked by Cobain. He was only interested in singing, songwriting and nothing more. Cobain had a distaste for any fanfare and fame he received. It’s suggested by some, that his feelings about fame and the fanfare he received, fueled part of his addiction to drugs, including heroin. However, it’s clear from his journals and many people who knew him, that he was already heavily into drugs. Partly why he turned to drugs in the first place, was because Cobain had severe chronic stomach pain and the drugs soothed that unbearable pain for him. Along with drug addiction, he struggled with depression as well, and he filtered his mental health struggles into some of his songs (Lithium).
Furthermore, Cobain was very passionate about feminist issues and some of Nirvana’s songs were about bringing awareness to those situations. “Rape Me” from the album In Utero, is one of those songs. The song is essentially about a girl that’s been raped and she is infuriated by it.
On February 24, 1992, Cobain married Courtney Love and there was a wide array of things said about their marriage, to the effect of it being tumultuous. Before Cobain proposed, Love was already pregnant with their first and only child, Francis Bean Cobain. During the downfall of Cobain and Love’s marriage, Cobain was planning on divorcing Love and she did not like that considering she would have lost everything. That has left some people wondering if Cobain’s death was truly suicide; not only due to the potential motive Love would’ve had, but the fact that there were some definite inconsistencies at the crime scene and during Cobain’s autopsy. Although there is controversy surrounding the circumstances of his death, Cobain should be remembered for the ways he affected people and his accomplishments in the music industry.