It has been twenty years since the music world was shocked by the news that Kurt Cobain had passed away from a self inflicted wound.
Kurt Cobain was the lead singer, guitarist and main songwriter of Nirvana, a band that was just inducted into rock & roll hall of fame.
Kurt Cobain was a tortured soul who we now know suffered from clinical depression and had been suicidal several times prior to his suicide, unfortunately drugs and fame did not help the situation. For many, the death of Kurt Cobain, was the first loss of someone that they truly identified with, Kurt’s lyrics spoke to millions of teenagers and twenty somethings who felt alienated from the rest of society, but Kurt Cobain wasn’t just the voice for the voiceless, he was also a brilliant musician who inspired and continues to inspire new bands all over the world.
In the late ‘80s Nirvana Nirvana became one of the leaders of this new music phenomena building up in Seattle, WA known as grunge. In 1989, Nirvana released its first album Bleach with the independent record label Sub Pop Records.
Nirvana soon had a large local following that were fascinated by their sound and energetic performances. In 1991DGC Records signed Nirvana and released the now classic album, Nevermind, which yielded the first single “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
Without warning Nirvana became the most popular band in the country and were the leaders of the grunge movement and the voice of Generation X, while Cobain became the “spokesman of a generation”, as named by the media.
In 1993, Utero, the band’s their and last studio album was released. Utero had a harder edge and had a less-mainstream sound and although it did not match the success of Nevermind, it was still a commercial and critical success.
In November 1993, Nirvana recorded the MTV Unplugged concert, which has become the most important performance of the whole MTV Unplugged concert series. With the help of Pat Smear on guitars and cellist Lori Goldston, the band took on a whole new musical dimension and purposely did not play their most popular songs, opting instead to play several covers, including David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World”.
Nirvana’s final concert took place in Munich, Germany, on March 1, 1993. A few days later, in Rome, Kurt Cobain was found unconscious in his hotel room and was taken to a hospital where a doctor later told the press that he had reacted to a combination of the prescription drug Rohypnol and alcohol. The rest of the European tour was canceled, but Cobain’s heroin problems came back. After an intervention Cobain agreed to admit himself to a drug rehabilitation center, but only a few days later, Cobain climbed the wall and went back to his home in Washington where he was found dead a week later.
Kurt Cobain’s music and lyrics continues to inspire young song writers and thousands of kids in garages all across the world are still trying to learn those Nirvana songs and just like all those great talents like Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, John Lennon, and so many others, his musical legacy will live on forever.
