Kurt Cobain (20.02.1967 - 05.04.1994) - American musicianKurt Cobain was a prominent American musician, rock singer and
guitarist. He was probably best known for the rock-project called
“Nirvana”. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, he had many European roots:
Irish, Scottish, German, English. His Irish ancestors migrated to Canada
in the 19th century and then moved to the USA.
Curt was born on February 20, 1967, in a humble family. His mother
was a housewife and his father was a mechanic. However, he had some
other relatives who were involved in music industry. For example, his
uncle was from the “Beachcombers” band, his aunt played the guitar in
various local ensembles. One of his distant grandfathers made a career
of a tenor and starred in “King of Jazz” (1930).
He started showing interest in music at a very early age. When
he was two he enjoyed singing “Beatles” songs, when he was seven he got
his first drum as a present from his aunt. When he was nine his parents
divorced and it had a bad impact on him. He became sullen and unhappy.
His life was a mess as a teenager. At first he lived with his mother,
then he moved in with his father. After his favourite uncle committed a
suicide he became even more disturbed.
There were times when he lived at his friends’ place or with
relatives. At the age of fourteen he learned to play the guitar. His
first teacher was the musician from “Beachcombers”. After graduation
from school Curt was often caught drinking or wandering. Once he spent
eight days at a cell for trespassing someone else’s territory being
drunk. He loved reading and his favourite writers included Leo Tolstoy,
J. D. Salinger, Patrick Suskind. The later author’s story about the
perfume creating murderer inspired Cobain to write a song “Scentless
Apprentice”.
In 1985 he established his first band “Fecal Matter”, which
didn’t last. The second band was more successful. Changing several
titles, it was called “Nirvana” and in 1988 they released their first
single, a year later - an album “Bleach”. The second album “Nevermind”
was highly demanded. It brought Cobain’s band not only commercial
success, but also world fame. His personal life was connected with
Courtney Love. A couple met in 1989, but it wasn’t until 1991 that they
started dating. A year later they got married, as Courtney was pregnant.
They daughter Frances was born on August 18, 1992. At that time
Curt was already experiencing some health problems. He was known for
poor health from the very childhood, but taking into account that he
overused alcohol and drugs, it got even worse. In spring 1994 he was
hospitalized after an attempt to take over fifty pills of Rohypnol and
to wash them down with champagne. He seemed to be ready to undergo the
treatment at one of the Californian rehabilitation centers, but at the
beginning of April he escaped from the hospital.
On April 8 early in the morning Kurt was found dead in his
Seattle house. It was a real shock for his numerous fans. After the
cremation his ashes were partially scattered over the river in his
native Aberdeen, WA, and partially passed to Courtney. There is an
unofficial memorial bench dedicated to Cobain in Viretta park.