Nirvana fans to mark Cobain death

BBC On Line/Entertainment ^ | Monday, 5 April, 2004 | staff writer

[yankeedame]

Last Updated: Monday, 5 April, 2004, 07:35 GMT 08:35 UK

Nirvana fans to mark Cobain death

Fans sign a shrine in a London record shop

Rock fans are expected to begin marking the 10th anniversary of the death of Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain on Monday. Cobain, 27, was found dead with a gunshot wound at his home in Seattle, Washington, on 8 April 1994. It is believed he shot himself on 5 April.

Fans of the influential singer usually mark the date with candlelit vigils in Seattle's Viretta Park.

Former Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic said: "I go into privacy mode at this time of year."

Novoselic - who made up Nirvana alongside Cobain and drummer Dave Grohl - added: " It's something I don't like to think about, much less talk about."

COBAIN REMEMBERED

Cobain, born in Aberdeen, Washington, is legendary among fans as leader of a band widely considered to be one of the most important of all time.

Nirvana were at the vanguard of the 1990s US grunge movement, creating a hard but melodic style of rock that appealed to millions.

In combining the do-it-yourself ethics of punk rock with an anti-corporate stance, they came to define what the media labelled "Generation X".

Their 1991 album Nevermind, containing the band's anthem Smells Like Teen Spirit, has sold more than 14 million copies.

Success

Cobain was married to former Hole singer Courtney Love, mother of their daughter Frances Bean, now aged 11.

Cobain's musical legacy has influenced many young artists

According to his suicide note, Cobain had found it difficult to come to terms with fame and success. He was also suffering from acute stomach pains, and was using heroin.

Fans are expected to gather in Viretta Park to sing Cobain's songs and leave flowers.

Jennifer DeSilva, born in Aberdeen and now living in Seattle, said: "I try to come here every month. It's just so sad."

Geoff Mayfield, editor of Billboard magazine, said Cobain's youthful death would preserve his legend. "These artists that die so young are frozen," he said.

Rolling Stone magazine has dedicated several pages to Cobain and declared him one of 20 legendary figures in the history of music. MTV said no one could compare to him.

[Sam's Army]

Sonic Youth bump. "Confusion is Sex" is some of the most wonderful noise I have had the pleasure to play again and again since high school.

[Sam's Army]

"they did nothing that wasn't done by Humble Pie rocking the Filmore, thirty years ago."

Minus the falsetto vocals, of course.

[Prime Choice]

I refuse to "honor" anyone who places a loaded shotgun up to his own head and pulls the trigger. Kurt Cobain was a loser!

I agree, but how often do you hear of a guy so determined to croak himself that he has to give death a trial run (via a coma from drug abuse) before going for the permanent plan!

Cobain is no hero in any sense of the word. He was a self-absorbed whiney punk who couldn't handle his loss of fame. What's worse is his leaving a legacy that advanced nobody's career but Courtney Love's.

[Alberta's Child]

I must confess -- I actually understood it. LOL.

[MJM59]

For me anyway, it is something altogether different to want to die when your body has failed you and there is no hope for recovery. A for instance would be, if I were ever in a state like Terry Schiavo, I would not want to continue to live. If you can call that living. Which in my opinion is not living, it is existence. But that is just my opinion.

Kurt Cobain wussed out, he took the easy way out. He had more to live for than many do and he looked at it and basically took a dump on it.

[Skooz]

What's worse is his leaving a legacy that advanced nobody's career but Courtney Love's.

Not so. He opened the doors for countless no-talent Nirvana wannabe bands. And Love's celeb still makes me scratch my head. Paris Hilton is the only celebrity on earth who has become famous with less talent.

[Sweet Land]

A great songwriter

Nevermind is a classic album. But Bleach was noise and In Utero was spotty.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

In Utero was uneven, but "Pennyroyal Tea" is some kind of a great song IMHO.

[Alberta's Child]

In one sense, I can't wait for the day when the last Beatles fan goes off to his/her eternal reward. Maybe that will put an end to those stupid memorial gatherings every December in Central Park across the street from the Dakota apartment building where John Lennon was murdered in 1980.

[Skooz]

I have been a Beatles fan since before I entered Kindergarten, but the thought of gathering in Central Park in December has never crossed my mind. Those people are just sad.

[Pharmboy]

Well, one thing's for sure: you and I don't like the same music.

IMO, Kurt was a genius.

[Pharmboy]

Thanks for posting. Big Kurdt fan here...I will toast a glass to him at our Seder tonight.

[Buell_X1-1200]

Hey, that's HalfLife. Any idea When HL 2 is coming out?

[Alberta's Child]

I've never been a Beatles fan (I'm too young to remember them when they were together), but I think "A Day In The Life" is one of the best classic rock tunes of all time.

[MplsSteve]

"Will there be a 21-shotgun salute?"

LMAO!

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Paris Hilton is the only celebrity on earth who has become famous with less talent.

I haven't seen the video, but some have said that she is talented.

[Skooz]

I was ten when the Beatles split.

The three most distressing moments of my childhood (all happened at age 10):

1. The Beatles splitting up
2. Mickey Mantle retiring from baseball
3. Keri Martindale rejecting my amorous advances in favor of some dork who had just moved to the neighborhood from England.

[Badeye]

"they did nothing that wasn't done by Humble Pie rocking the Filmore, thirty years ago."
Minus the falsetto vocals, of course."

Of course!.....LOL!

If your over forty, suicide by a rock performer is hardly earth shattering news, be it with a gun, single car "accident" or drug overdose...which I suspect is in Courtney Love's immediate future, btw.

[OXENinFLA]

Nope.

I've never even played Half-life, that pic came up when I searched shotgun on google.