A Tribute to a Musician That Made His Mark

Kurt Cobain

Kurt Donald Cobain was an American musician, best known for his roles as lead singer, guitarist, and song writer for the Seattle-based rock band Nirvana. Cobain formed Nirvana in 1987 with Krist Novoselic. Within two years, the band became a fixture of the Seattle Grunge scene. In 1991, the arrival of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" marked the beginning of a dramatic shift of popular rock music away from the dominant genres of the 80s (glam metal, arena rock, and dance-pop) and toward grunge and alternative rock. The music media eventually awarded the song "anthem-of-a-generation" status, and, with it, Cobain was labeled a "spokesman" for Generation X.

Nirvana

For his 14th birthday, Cobain's uncle gave him the option of a guitar or a bicycle as a gift; Cobain chose the guitar. He started learning a few covers, including AC/DC's "Back in Black" and The Cars "My Best Friends Girl", and soon began working on his own songs.
In high school, Cobain rarely found anyone to jam with. While hanging out at the Melvins practice space, he met Krist Novoselic, a fellow devotee of punk rock. Novolselic's mother owned a hair salon, and they would occasionally practice in the upstairs room. A few years later, Cobain tried to convince him to form a band with him by lending him a copy of a home demo recorded by Cobain's earlier band, Fecal Matter. After months of asking, Novoselic finally agreed to join Cobain, forming the beginnings of Nirvana. Cobain and Novoselic went through a rotating list of drummers before settling on Chad Channing, with whom Nirvana recorded the album Bleach, released in 1989. Cobain, becoming dissatisfied with Channing, sought out a replacement, and along came Dave Grohl. With Grohl, the band found their greatest success via their major-label debut, Nevermind.

Death

During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with drug addiction, and the media pressures surrounding him and his wife, Courtney Love. On April 8th, Cobain was found dead in his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. In ensuing years, the circumstances of his death became a topic of fascination and debate.

Kurt Cobain would have been 41 on February 20th, 2008.