Grunge legend of Kurt Cobain lives on 30 years after his death
Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain, whose band ushered in the Seattle grunge phenomenon of the 1990s, died 30 years ago today.
Cobain died on April 5, 1994. His body was found on April 8, 1994, at his home and it was determined that he died days earlier. Cobain died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had also injected a large amount of heroin.
Cobain and Nirvana shook up the music scene and pop culture with their breakout song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Released in 1991, the song was a huge hit and led to quick and overwhelming wealth and attention.
30 years ago today, Kurt Cobain died at the young age of 27. Remembering the Nirvana and Grunge legend today.#KurtCobain #Nirvana #27club pic.twitter.com/hct7PLKH5q
— Rock History Pics (@RockHistoryPics) April 5, 2024
Nirvana’s album “Nevermind” was released in September 1991, and the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” showed Nirvana performing in a high school gym while surrounded by anarchist cheerleaders.
How has it been 30 years? #KurtCobain pic.twitter.com/mRubuwvW75
— Andy Gibbons (@andyffgibbons) April 5, 2024
By January 1992, “Nevermind” was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Other hits from the record included “Come as You Are,” “In Bloom” and “Lithium.”
“Those are great, enduring songs played by a world-class rock band and sung by one of the great rock singers,” author Michael Azzerad wrote for The New Yorker. “Despite Kurt’s torment — or in a determined attempt to overcome it — Nirvana made life-affirming music.”
As Nirvana’s popularity swelled, so did fascination with Cobain’s personal life. Reports of heroin use and his marriage to Hole frontwoman Courtney Love attracted lots of media attention.
The couple welcomed a baby girl, Frances Bean, in August 1992.
To mark the 30th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s tragic death, I spoke to the photographers behind a new book that shows him not as a rock star, but as a husband and a dad: “When Frances was in Kurt’s arms, he was in *love*” ???? https://t.co/ltmkDjLqv7
— Jordan Bassett (@jordandbassett) April 5, 2024
Eight years after Cobain’s death, another grunge icon, Layne Staley, lead singer of Alice in Chains, died. Staley died April 5, 2002, of an overdose mixture of heroin and cocaine. His body was found two weeks after he died, when his mother and police went to his home to check on him.
Remembering #LayneStaley today on the 22nd anniversary of his passing (April 5, 2002) | Explore the #AliceInChains frontman's musical legacy (including audio & video highlights) here: https://t.co/2d7cuBkDLV pic.twitter.com/t4CGAg7ctv
— ALBUMISM (@Albumism) April 5, 2024
Alice in Chains also emerged from the Seattle grunge craze with Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The group’s album “Jar of Flies” debuted at No. 1 on the charts.
Megan Swift is a TribLive reporter covering trending news in Western Pennsylvania. A Murrysville native, she joined the Trib full time in 2023 after serving as editor-in-chief of The Daily Collegian at Penn State. She previously worked as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern at the Trib for three summers. She can be reached at mswift@triblive.com.
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