Today is the 25th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death, and the question on everyone’s mind: Is where were you the day the music died? For me, that would be California. I was 16 and had recently moved in with my dad because Podunk, Oklahoma, wasn’t cutting it anymore. But me being a fan of Nirvana was no weird thing. They were one of the biggest bands, hitting the majors in 1991. Until Kurt’s death, Nirvana set the tone of music for the ’90s and even beyond.
Nirvana wasn’t the top band for me. That honor was for Alice in Chains, but they were a close second. None of their more popular songs (Smells Like Teen Spirit) did it for me. Songs such as Verse Chorus Verse or Sliver appealed to the disorganized mess in my mind back then. That probably explains why their Unplugged album is my favorite, as that performance-focused on what made Kurt and Nirvana special.
It would be much later that I learned how creative Kurt had been. He was more than the lead singer of the band. He wrote the songs, played the lead guitar, designed the covers, story-boarded the videos, etc. And with his death, that creativity went with him.
Reflecting on that loss, I see now why his death affected so many lives. One of the most notable instances was the copycat suicides: https://www.eonline.com/news/34540/two-cobain-fans-kill-themselves It even made its way into comic books. See Garth Ennis character Arseface.
Beyond the suicides were the murder conspiracies. Many have tried to prove that Kurt’s wife, Courtney Love, had him killed or at least involved in his death. Of course, it seems ridiculous that is what happened once you factor in how far down in the hole Kurt was with his addiction to heroin. If not for suicide, his fate could have been the same as Layne Staley’s. Death from overdose and complications of heroin addiction.
The suicide, the conspiracy, the drugs, all that aside, my final thought on this day is that 25 years on we are still talking about Kurt Cobain and Nirvana. That The suicide, the conspiracy, the drugs, all that aside, my final thought on this day is that 25 years on, we are still talking about Kurt Cobain and Nirvana. That, more than anything, probably would bring a shake of the head to Kurt, but he would smile too, I think.