20th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death toady

[heavenlyboy34]

R.I.P. I remember the day it happened quite well. I was a big fanboy at the time.
http://epictimes.com/article/323500...ce-kurt-cobains-death-a-look-back-at-his-life

As we reach 20 years since the death of Kurt Cobain on Saturday, we take a look back at his life and huge rise to fame.

The Nirvana lead singer was found dead on April 8, 1994, by electrician Gary Smith who was at the house to do some work.

Police determined he died from a self-inflicted gun shot to the head. He was 27 at the time.​

Seattle's chief medical examiner ruled Cobain had killed himself three days earlier - on April 5 -only days after he had left a rehab facility.​

During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction, illness and depression.​

He also had difficulty coping with his fame and public image, and the professional and lifelong personal pressures surrounding himself and his wife, musician Courtney Love.​

Police dramatically launched a review into the singer's death on Thursday last week after new evidence was uncovered.​

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Four undeveloped rolls of film were found last month sealed in bags in a Seattle police photo lab, nearly 20 years after his apparent suicide, cops revealed.​

They said the scene was clearer than earlier Polaroid photos and pledged to re-examine all the evidence in the case - but stopped short of launching a full reinvestigation yet.
Here, we look back at the singer's rise to fame:
Cobain's childhood and life before Nirvana:

Cobain was born in Aberdeen, Washington on February 20, 1967.
Coming from fairly humble beginnings and a world away from the world of showbiz he would find himself in, his mum was a waitress and his dad a mechanic.
Despite his parents not being particularly musical, Cobain's uncle Chuck Fradenburg starred in a band called The Beachcombers - so he undoubtedly had a fair few singing lessons as a child.
Although we imagine they weren't all that punk rock-ish.
The star grew up close to his only sister, Kim who was born in 1971, and he had an interest in art and music from a young age, according to reports.
He struggled to cope with his parents' divorce when he was just nine-years-old, and reportedly found respite in a guitar his uncle had given him.
He soon became interested in punk rock and befriended local bands in his area.
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<figcaption style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 0.5em 0px 0.75em; font-weight: 700;">Remembered as the voice of a generation</figcaption></figure>As he hit his teens, he got into trouble with police on several occasions, and was arrested spray painting buildings, it has been claimed.
He later received a fine and a suspended sentence for his actions.
Months later he started his first band, Fecal Matter, and recorded a few songs but eventually they split up.
Charles Cross wrote a biography on the star, titled Heavier Than Heaven, and followed it last month with a new reflection, titled Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact Of Kurt Cobain.
In it, he wrote: “Those songs have such meaning to so many people. And when we talk about Kurt and why he mattered, that is by far and away the reason he mattered - is that that body of songs that he created and wrote still speak to listeners today, both listeners that heard it in the ’90s and people that are just discovering it now. It’s the reason that we still talk about him.
“When we talk about his legacy, it’s also to some degree our legacy, our youth. It was the one time where it suddenly felt to everybody here that the world could go on its end.”
Forming Nirvana:

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Shortly after failing with his first band, Kurt met Krist Novoselic, a fellow devotee of punk rock.
The pair reportedly practiced together in Krist's mum's hair salon, and after months of persuasion, Kurt persuaded his friend to form a band.
Cue the start of Nirvana in 1985.
It was soon established as part of the Seattle music scene, having its debut album Bleach released on the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989.
The band shot to fame with hit Smells Like Teen Spirit from its second album Nevermind.
Nirvana went on to sell over 25 million albums in the US, and over 75 million worldwide.
Cobain was later named the 'spokesman of a generation' after his hit Smells Like Teen Spirit made such an impact on its audience.
But rather than embracing his newfound fame, the singer publicly struggled to cope with the world's perception of his music - and his personal issues soon rose to the surface.
Cobain and Courtney Love

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<figcaption style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); float: left; font-size: 14px; padding: 0.5em 0px 0.75em; font-weight: 700;">Courtney Love and Cobain with their daughter Frances Bean in 1993</figcaption></figure>Before Nevermind's release, Cobain met singer Courtney Love at an L7 concert in Los Angeles in 1990.
Later that year, Cobain and Love started a whirlwind relationship despite the distance between them as they both toured - and their romance almost became more famous than their music.
Almost.
In February 1992, they got married and had daughter Frances Bean Cobain in August.
The pair were known for using drugs together and married after finding out Love was pregnant, on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii.
HOW romantic.
Courtney admitted using heroin before she knew she was pregnant, in an interview with Vanity Fair in 1992.
The interview threw the pair into the media spotlight as they received criticism, and Love later denied she said it.
Frances was taken off them for a few weeks, but eventually returned.
The pair's relationship was rocky from then on, with reports they were involved in a physical fight and police had to intervene.
On March 4, 1994, Cobain reportedly attempted suicide with a drugs overdose, and was rushed to hospital in a coma after Love found him.
It was later claimed it was accidental.
All about his death and the world's reaction

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[donnay]

Wow 20 years?

 

[CPUd]

He came up with the concepts for several of their videos, includinng "Heart-Shaped Box":

My favorite part of the epic Unplugged performance is the cover songs:

 

[Lucille]

 

[heavenlyboy34]

He came up with the concepts for several of their videos, includinng "Heart-Shaped Box":

My favorite part of the epic Unplugged performance is the cover songs:

I bought the Unplugged cassette tape (I can hear the RPF kids now-"cassette tape? What's that, HB"? lolz /old fart) not long after the performance aired...'93, IIRC.

 

[TomKat]

Wow, I feel old all of a sudden. I remember exactly where I was, and who I was with when I heard the news. My girlfriend at the time was all torn up over it.

I have always loved this song.

and

and

 

[TomKat]

and


Ok I have to stop or else I will post every song made.

 

[TomKat]

Had to add this one cause it is hilarious to hear teens react to Nirvana.

 

[RJB]

Someone edit the title, please.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Had to add this one cause it is hilarious to hear teens react to Nirvana.

LMAO!! I'm in tears laughing so much. Sheesh, I'm feeling like a major oldster now. This must be what Origanalist feels like every day.

 

[RJB]

Heck, my kids react to Nirvanna, like I looked at the Beatles. No worries. I have dirt on them no matter how hip they think they are, I have evidence that they liked Barney the Dinosaur for music. Heh heh heh

 

[Natural Citizen]

Well. I don't know. I think Nirvana and bands like them ruined the best era in rock n roll in history. I hated that grunge crap and what it did to alter society and youth in general. Still do.

Regardless of that, it's unfortunate the decisions that we make.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Well. I don't know. I think Nirvana and bands like them ruined the best era in rock n roll in history. I hated that grunge crap and what it did to alter society and youth in general. Still do.

Regardless of that, it's unfortunate the decisions that we make.

The 90s was the best era in rock history? Da fuq?

 

[dannno]

Load up on guns..

https://soundcloud.com/younerds/nirvana-dubstep

 

[dannno]

Well. I don't know. I think Nirvana and bands like them ruined the best era in rock n roll in history. I hated that grunge crap and what it did to alter society and youth in general. Still do.

Regardless of that, it's unfortunate the decisions that we make.

Actually Nirvana was just ripping off The Pixies (at least that's what he said) and both bands were musically genius. When people say "all that grunge crap" they usually have no idea who The Pixies are because they were from the 80s and I don't really associate Nirvana with any bands from the 90s (not even Foo Fighters really)

 

[fr33]

I love Nirvana. Always have.

Well. I don't know. I think Nirvana and bands like them ruined the best era in rock n roll in history. I hated that grunge crap and what it did to alter society and youth in general. Still do.

Regardless of that, it's unfortunate the decisions that we make.

I remember this type of sentiment from back then and can understand it based on the music before and after it. But I don't agree with or identify with it. Society was altered and music expressed it. IMO it was long overdue.

 

[anaconda]

I loved Pearl Jam, but the allure of Nirvana was completely lost on me. And, for me, even Pearl Jam's music now fails to hold up over time. Grunge seems to have been more time and place specific than many other pop music forms. I think maybe one needed to hang out in Seattle to fully get it.

 

[specsaregood]

I loved Pearl Jam, but the allure of Nirvana was completely lost on me. And, for me, even Pearl Jam's music now fails to hold up over time.

I'm the opposite. I could never stand pearl jam; but nirvana just sings to me. Even to this day, if I play the albums I can't help but sing along.

 

[fr33]

 

[fisharmor]

The 90s was the best era in rock history? Da fuq?

Not just rock. Hip Hop peaked in the 90s. Metal was on a downward slide, and country just went batshit insane, but rock... rock went back to rocking.
I don't know what NC is talking about. I mean, I vividly remember circa 1986, starting to listen to music and trying to like what the popular kids were listening to, and just thinking it was all shit. Top 40 at that time was just... just horrible. So I stopped listening to that crap altogether and went full metal, because daaaaaayum, 1986 was when metal gods walked the Earth. Punk was in full force still, too.

Then in 1991 everything started changing. I don't think younger people can really appreciate how sudden it all was. Literally, one week everyone was playing Mariah Carey, and then the next week, the airwaves were full of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. For a guy who spent all his time listening to metal and punk... I mean, the radio was the devil. The only thing on the radio I wanted to hear in 1990 was classical, and that always came with a dose of communist dogma.

Then, all of a sudden, it was like, holy shit, there's something worth listening to on the RADIO?

And Kurt was the king of all that. He literally led a revolution.