22nd Anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s Death
It has been 22 years to the day since Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain tragically took his own life. Known as one of the last true great rockstars, Cobain changed rock and popular music forever. However, it was this title that ultimately led Cobain down the deadly spiral of drug addiction and depression.
With just three full-length albums, Nirvana became one of the most legendary rocks bands in history. The band’s breakthrough second album ‘Nevermind’ spearheaded by the timeless Smells Like Teen Spirit, smashed Michael Jackson’s Thriller off #1 and brought grunge and garage rock into the mainstream.
However, this new found fame was the beginning of the end for Cobain whose gentle, complex, and often misunderstood mind wasn’t able to handle the pressures of the ‘banner holder’ duties for the scene as well as an idol for alternative youth.
Cobain became increasingly dis-enfranchised by his fame and fortune, famously commenting on the state of the then massive grunge scene with the first lyrics of Nirvana’s last album ‘In Utero’:’ “Teenage angst has paid off well/now I’m bored alone”. Cobain detested what pop culture, mass media, and commercialisation had done to the authentic rise of grunge and he began to feel increasingly isolated. Heroin addiction and depression started to take its toll on Cobain’s mental and physical health and on April 5th 1994 Cobain took his life in his home in Seattle.
To say Kurt Cobain and Nirvana were influential is an understatement. Their unique, unapologetic, and ground-breaking musical style can be seen throughout a wide range of contemporary music across genres. A clear example of this is Cobain’s posthumous indoctrination into the Rock ‘n’ Roll hall of fame in 2014. Cobain gave a voice to the alienated alternative youth of the world and it continues to be his legacy 22 years on from his death.
