American musician, lead singer whose anguished lyrics helped sell millions of records featuring the gritty sound of grunge rock ‘n roll of “Nirvana,” a head banging punk metal band formed in 1991.
Cobain was raised 108 miles southwest of Seattle by auto mechanic Donald Cobain and his homemaker wife Wendy Fradenburg. Three years older than his sister Kim, Cobain was diagnosed as a hyperactive preschooler and given the amphetamine-based drug, Ritalin as a child. The side effects of the drug were countered with sedatives to help him sleep at nights. Cobain remembers fondly his childhood occupying his time drawing and singing to the songs of the Beatles. His parents divorce in 1975 emotionally shook his world. Filled with anger and confusion, Cobain became sullen and antagonistic to his bewildered mom who finally sent him to live with his dad. Cobain continued to rebel by refusing to share in his father’s enthusiasm for sports activities. Joining the junior high wrestling team Cobain allowed his opponent to win without a struggle while his disappointed father watched in the stands. During his years at Aberdeen High School, Cobain smoked marijuana, taunted jocks, and was shuffled over to his paternal grandparents home. He found enjoyment learning how to play Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” on the guitar from his music teacher. Interested in the punk rock music of the Sex Pistols, Cobain dropped out of high school in 1985 before graduation and visited the music clubs. Refusing his two state art scholarships, he skipped college and worked part-time as a janitor at his high school. He took drugs, drank, vandalized cars and lived life on the streets in Aberdeen.
In 1987, Cobain and bassist school friend Krist Novoselic established their rock group, “Nirvana” and performed at clubs in Aberdeen, Olympia and Seattle. Two years later they released their first album, “Bleach.” They were signed by Geffen Records in 1991 and their second album, “Nevermind,” sold over 10 million copies worldwide. “Nirvana’s” music was part of the growing popular Seattle gritty grunge music sound. The group’s rumpled style of torn jeans, ripped T-shirts and unwashed hair influenced American teenagers. Cobain was singled out by music critics for his primal screams and guitar playing bravado on stage. He was championed as the voice of the X generation. Despite his speedy superstar status, Cobain’s personal life continued to erode. Uncomfortable with his fame, he continued his drug habit of heroin and alcohol.
Cobain met his wife, former actress and strip joint dancer, Courtney Love in 1991 when she was forming her own punk band, “Hole.” The couple easily bonded over their mutual drug habit. They married in early 1992 and six months later their daughter, Frances Bean Cobain was born. The couple owned a $1.1 million home on the shore of Seattle’s Lake Washington Madrona neighborhood. Cobain’s addiction to drugs fueled the fights between him and his wife and was difficult to conquer. He suffered chronic undiagnosed stomach pains that he believed were relieved by his heroin use. For years, he had a mysterious stomach ailment, a burning nauseous pain in his upper abdominal cavity. The distress was inexplicable and elusive to diagnosis, at times causing him to curl up in misery for days.
On 4 March 1994 he went into a coma in Rome, Italy from an overdose of tranquilizers and champagne. On 28 March 1994 he entered Exodus Recovery Center, a drug rehabilitation center in Marina Del Rey, California, and walked out of the clinic 36 hours later. Wandering around the Seattle Madrona neighborhood Cobain was spotted by people in the community wearing a heavy coat on a warm day. Seattle Police believe Cobain died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head in the afternoon or evening of 5 April 1994. He left a one-page note written with a red ball point pen addressing his unhappiness, “I have felt guilty for so many years…the worst crime is faking it. I don’t have any passion any more.” His addictions, discomfort with celebrity status, domestic disputes and his own personal demons of anguish were made public when his body was found on 8 April 1994 by an electrician contracted to install a burglar alarm in the Cobain’s Seattle home. Cobain’s suicide death shocked the nation and highlighted the heroin drug problem in the music industry. The police report gave the death as occurring on 5 April 1994 at 7:00 PM PDT in Seattle.
“Journals,” a collection of hand-written diary entries, letters, band memos, drawings, screeds and cries for the heart came out in publication in November 2002.
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