Overview (4)

Mini Bio (1)

Kurt Cobain was born on February 20 1967, in Aberdeen, Washington. Kurt and his family lived in Hoquiam for the first few months of his life then later moved back to Aberdeen, where he had a happy childhood until his parents divorced. The divorce left Kurt's outlook on the world forever scarred. He became withdrawn and anti-social. He was constantly placed with one relative to the next, living with friends, and at times even homeless. Kurt was not the most popular person in high school as he was in public school. In 1985 Kurt left Aberdeen for Olympia where he formed the band Nirvana in 1986. In 1989 Nirvana recorded their debut album Bleach under the independent label Sub-Pop records. Nirvana became very popular in Britain and by 1991 they signed a contract with Geffen. Their next album Nevermind became a 90s masterpiece and made Kurt's Nirvana one of the most successful bands in the world. Kurt became trampled upon with success and found the new lifestyle hard to bear. In February 1992 Kurt married Courtney Love, the woman who was already pregnant with his child, Frances Bean Cobain. Nirvana released their next album Incesticide later that year. The album appealed to many fans due to the liner notes, which expressed Kurt's open-mindedness. In September 1993 Nirvana released their next album, 'In Utero', which topped the charts. On March 4, 1994, Kurt was taken to hospital in a coma. It was officially stated as an accident but many believe it to have been an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Family and friends convinced Kurt to seek rehab. Kurt was said to have fled rehab after only a few days from a missing person's report filed by Courtney Love. On April 8th Kurt's body was found in his Seattle home. In his arms was a shotgun, which had been fired into his head. Near him laid a suicide note written in red ink. It was addressed to his wife Courtney Love and his daughter Frances Bean Cobain. Two days after Kurt's body was discovered people gathered in Seattle, they began setting fires, chanting profanities, and fighting with police officers. They also listened to a tape of Courtney reading sections of the suicide note left by Kurt. The last few words were "I love you, I love you".

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Russomanno <yearight32@hotmail.com>

Spouse (1)

Trade Mark (8)

His unclean hair and unshaven appearance



Raw agonizing voice



Smashing instruments and stage equipment after shows



Garbled,Incomprehensible Singing



Shoulder-length blonde hair



Nihilistic & deeply personal Lyrics



Ripped Jeans



Bright blue eyes



Trivia (64)

Ashes were scattered in McLane Creek in Olympia, Washington. A handful were scattered under the willow at the front of 171 Lake Washinton Boulevard in Seattle, and another handful was given to a Buddhist to make a "tsatsu" (a memorial sculpture).





Guitar and vocals for the legendary grunge band Nirvana



Although Cobain's death was officially ruled a suicide, certain aspects about his death have led to speculation that he was murdered: He had entirely too much heroin in his system at the time of his death to have been able to operate a shotgun; he would have been incapacitated within seconds of injecting it. Also, the so-called "suicide note" may have been a letter to his fans expressing his desire to quit both Nirvana and the music business altogether. In addition, one of Cobain's credit cards was being used a few days AFTER his death.

His most famous song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", was voted by Rolling Stone Magazine and MTV as the 3rd best pop song out of 100 of all time.



Was of Irish, English, German, and French ancestry.



Sister: Kim.



Half-sister: Brianne O'Conner.



Half-brother: Chad Cobain.





According to his widow, Courtney Love , Cobain left behind 109 unreleased, recorded songs when he died in 1994. Some are just song fragments, some music "collages", and about eight are acoustic numbers that Love deems good enough for release. One song, "Stinking of You", which he wrote with Love, includes the line "Stinking of you...I don't care if my life is shattered, it's my point of view..."

His most popular songs include "About a Girl", "Been a Son", "Negative Creep", "Aneurysm", "Dive", "Sliver", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Lithium", "In Bloom", "Polly", "Something in the Way", "Heart-Shaped Box", "Rape Me", "Dumb", "Pennyroyal Tea", "All Apologies" and "You Know You're Right" (written and recorded shortly before his death but not officially released until October 2002).





The Nirvana song "Scentless Apprentice" is based on a book called "Perfume" by Patrick Süskind

The original title for "Heart-Shaped Box" was "Heart-Shaped Coffin."





Recent biography is written by Charles Cross , an influential icon in the Seattle music scene. The biography, "Heavier Than Heaven", is said to be the most comprehensive biography of one of the most mysterious artists in music history.



Played a trick on the MTV brass when he began Nirvana 's appearance at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards by playing the first few chords of the song "Rape Me" and singing the first verse. He then quickly switched to playing "Lithium", the song the band had agreed to play in the show as a compromise with MTV executives. Cobain had wanted to sing the then-new song "Rape Me", while MTV's bigwigs wanted the band to lead off the show with their signature song, "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The two sides settled on a mid-show rendition of "Lithium".

Named 12th greatest guitar player of all-time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2003.



Samples of Cobain-penned song lyrics: "I'm a negative creep and I'm stoned" ("Negative Creep," 1989)... "She keeps it pumpin' straight to my heart" ("Aneurysm," 1990)... "And I forget just why I taste/oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile/I found it hard, it's hard to find/oh well, whatever, nevermind" ("Smells Like Teen Spirit," 1991)... "My heart is broke/but I have some glue/help me inhale/and mend it with you/we'll float around/and hang out on clouds/then we'll come down/and have a hangover" ("Dumb," 1993)... "I'll keep fighting jealousy/until it's fucking gone" ("Lounge Act," 1991)... "The animals I've trapped/have all become my pets" ("Something in the Way," 1991)... "Things have never been so swell/I have never failed to feel pain" ("You Know You're Right," 1994)... "All in all is all we all are" ("All Apologies," 1993).





Was runner-up for Best Songwriter of 1994 in "Rolling Stone" magazine's annual critics' poll. He ranked between Freedy Johnston and Sam Phillips , who placed 1st and 3rd in the poll, respectively.

The song "Mighty K.C." by For Squirrels was written about him.





He wrote a song for his friend Mark Lanegan , who sang for the Screaming Trees . The song was never recorded because Mark said not only would it be like digging up the grave of an old friend, but the song simply didn't fit with the rest of the "Dust" album in a lyrical sense.

His mom was 19 and his dad was 21 when he was born.



Obsessed with vinyl, he had a substantially expensive record collection.



His parents divorced when he was 7.



Nirvana were voted the 27th Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artists of all time by Rolling Stone.



At one time sang in the choir at a Baptist church.





Daughter Frances Bean Cobain looks almost exactly like him. She has the distinct blue eyes, and nose.



Posthumous album "Nirvana: MTV Unplugged" earned he and Nirvana a 1995 Grammy. It was the only Grammy they won.

His death marked the end of the Grunge era.





His songs have been covered by bands ranging from Evanescence to hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver to female Japanese duo Cibo Matto

Was a left-handed guitarist and a right-handed drummer.



Suffered chronic stomach pain due to a re-occuring red irritation, back pain from scoliosis (curvature of the spine), and chronic bronchitis due to heavy smoking.





The song "About a Girl" was about his one-time girlfriend Tracey Marander



He wore blue-plaid pajamas and a woven Guatemalan purse to his wedding to Courtney Love

Son of Donald Cobain and Wendy Fradenburg. Grandson of Leland Cobain and Iris Cobain née LaBrot and Charles Fradenburg and Peggy Fradenburg née Irving. His parents married in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho on July 31, 1965. They had a son and a daughter while they were married to each other. Kurt, born February 20, 1967 and Kimberly, born on April 24, 1970. They divorced in 1976.





"Thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous stomach for your letters of concern over the past years. I don't have the passion anymore and so remember, it's better to burn out than fade away" (addressed to Nirvana fans in his suicide note).

Has been voted as "the greatest rock'n'roll hero of all time" by the readers of "NME" magazine (10 May 2006).



Has said in interviews that he always wanted to give acting a try and be in a movie.



Said he eventually wanted to experiment with filmmaking. He even wrote a script for a horror movie.





Nirvana won the 1993 Brit Award for International Breakthrough Act.



Surpassed Elvis Presley to become the world's top-earning dead celebrity. He raked in £26.3 million from beyond the grave during 2006, according to US business website Forbes.com.



John Lennon 's song "In my Life" was played at his funeral.

Ranked #49 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists.





The last movie he watched before his death was Das Piano (1993).



Bob Dylan , a fan of Nirvana , counted "Polly" as his favorite song by the band.

Very frequently changed up the words or the order of lines or verses of his songs when performing them live, rarely if every singing them the same from show to show.



One of the last songs he ever recorded was entitled "I Hate Myself and Want to Die." It was released on the "Beavis and Butt-Head Experience" compilation album.





Despite Nirvana 's popularity, the group only released three studio albums.



"Bleach", the first Nirvana album, spells his first name as "Kurdt". All subsequent releases use the more familiar "Kurt".



In a 2008 NME magazine interview, Courtney Love claimed that Cobain turned down the role of Lance in Pulp Fiction (1994). The part was eventually taken by Eric Stoltz

His body was discovered on April 8, 1994 - a day on which he was originally scheduled to perform at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland.



Strong supporter of LGBT equality and similar causes. He emphatically stated in an interview that if someone was homophobic, racist or misogynistic, then they could do the band a huge favor and refrain from buying a Nirvana album or attending any their concerts because he didn't want their money and wanted nothing to do with them.





His death was similar to that of Kenny MacLean and Layne Staley in that nobody found him until 3 days after he died. Cobain and Staley both died on April 5th, 8 years apart.

During a Nirvana concert, he witnessed a girl being groped in the audience. Without missing a beat, he threw his guitar to the ground (a Martin D-18E electric guitar, one of the rarest electric guitars ever made and worth a significant amount of money), dived into the audience and angrily confronted the man who groped the woman. Upon returning to the stage, Cobain and the other band members openly mocked the man as he was being forcibly led out by security.



His remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered into the Wishkah River.



Smells Like Teen Spirit was heavily inspired by U-Mass by The Pixies.





Although he stated several times that he didn't like Pearl Jam , he got along very well with the band's lead singer Eddie Vedder , and they used to talk on the phone. When Cobain's body was found on April 8, 1994, Vedder paid tribute to him during a Pearl Jam concert in the same day saying that none of them [the band] would be there if it weren't for Cobain. Vedder also wore a t-shirt with the letter "K" over his heart when the band performed on Saturday Night Live on April 16, 1994. The documentary Pearl Jam Twenty (2011) shows a rare footage of Cobain and Vedder dancing together at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.



Cited Soundgarden as one of the only Grunge bands that he liked along with Tad and Mudhoney.



According to Courtney Love, Cobain described Nirvana's "You Know You're Right" to her as "a really sick, good Alice in Chains song.".

As of 2018; he is the only member of nirvana to have died.



Personal Quotes (21)

Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.



I'm not well-read, but when I read, I read well.



I'm not a death rocker, and I don't wear black.



I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not.



I think people who glamorize drugs are f**king *ssholes and if there's hell they'll go there.



[To 'Weird Al" Yankovic', when asked for permission to do a parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"] "It isn't going to be about food, is it?".





"I stared into his eyes and told him that I thought he was a respectable human. I did tell him straight out that I think his band still sucks." - on his encounter with Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder

I'm not gay, but I wish I was just to piss off the homophobes.



If I went to jail, at least I wouldn't have to sign autographs.



The music comes first. Lyrics are second. (When asked how he writes his songs.)



When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band - or at least in a Pixies cover band.



I never wanted to sing. I just wanted to play rhythm guitar - hide in the back and just play.



I didn't know how to deal with success. If there was a Rock Star 101, I would have liked to take it. It might have helped me.



It just so happens that there's a bunch of people that are concerned with what I have to say. I find that frightening at times because I'm just as confused as most people.



[on his Irish ancestry] They came from County Cork, which is a really weird coincidence, because when we toured Ireland, we played in Cork and the entire day I walked around in a daze. I'd never felt more spiritual in my life. It was the weirdest feeling and I have a friend who was with me who could testify to this. I was almost in tears the whole day. Since that tour, which was about two years ago, I've had a sense that I was from Ireland.



None of you will ever know my true intent.



I would like to get rid of the homophobes, racists and sexists in our audience. I know they're out there, and it really bothers me. So at this point I have a request for our fans: If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of a different color, or women, please do this one favor for us... Don't come to our shows and don't buy our records.





[Flipside magazine - May/June 1992] They [ Soundgarden ] used to be great, they were even better in like 85 when Chris Cornell had a Flock of Seagulls haircut! They were just like the Butthole Surfers, they were amazing.



[Flipside magazine - May/June 1992] Right, we turned down [a tour with] Guns and Roses. That would be a big waste of time. I can't comment on Soundgarden because I know them personally and I really like them a lot, but I have strong feelings towards Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains and bands like that. They're obviously just corporate puppets that are just trying to jump on the alternative bandwagon - and we are being lumped into that category. Those bands have been in the hairspray / cockrock scene for years and all of a sudden they stop washing their hair and start wearing flannel shirts. It doesn't make any sense to me. There are bands moving from L.A. and all over to Seattle and then claim they've lived there all their life so they can get record deals. It really offends me.

I'm a fan of rap music but most of it is so misogynist that I can't even deal with it. I'm really not that much of a fan. I totally respect and love it because it's one of the only original forms of music that's been introduced. But the white man doing rap is just like watching a white man dance. We can't dance, we can't rap.



a voice told me that the second coming of Jesus christ will be some guy named Matthew Edward Hall. - Kurt Cobain(1992)

