Thread: Kurt Cobain

You know, I was going to start a thread about this, too but I figured that a lot of our DV members are too young to remember him as fondly as some of us Gen-Xers do. It’s funny... this is one of those events that, when asked, you can recite exactly where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news. Perhaps Kurt Cobain was my generation’s Kennedy.

I am absolutely fascinated by forensics and criminology, particularly those of murder cases. Kurt Cobain’s case was one that I’d never had a whole lot of information on. Back then, I was too distraught to neutrally keep up with it anyway so anything I read would have been tainted in my mind by my own emotions. So, in the spirit of the 12th anniversary of his death, I finally decided to do some research of my own. I found a site by Tom Grant, a licensed private investigator and former detective for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. All sources I’ve come across that mention Tom Grant speak highly of him. But I don’t know the man personally, so I can’t determine whether any of what he says is true or not. Regardless, it’s a very interesting read and, if there is any amount of truth to it, it sheds light on a number of things. I have yet to find the case on the Court TV website (one of my favorite haunts), but I’ll be looking for it later this evening.

I’ve always believed that Kurt was murdered, but I try to keep a neutral perspective when reviewing murder cases of any kind. Given the evidence I have seen (provided it is real and not altered to suit anyone’s agenda), I still do not believe that Kurt Cobain committed suicide. Certain things just don’t add up and from what I’ve seen, I think the case was handled terribly. There are other things that are mighty suspicious as well, for example the death of Kristen Pfaff (the bassist for Hole), which should have sent up red flags like crazy. I’m by far not a professional, but that would definitely be enough for me to investigate Kurt’s ‘suicide’ further. Kristen was planning to leave Hole and move on to other things. Obviously that upset Courtney Love quite a bit (I seem to remember quite a few interviews where she badmouthed her bandmate quite violently). Kurt was planning to divorce Courtney (do you blame him?). From what I’ve read, he had also turned down an offer to headline the Lollapalooza tour, which Courtney of course didn’t agree with. Also, I don’t believe that his ‘suicide note’ was a suicide note after all. He was planning to get out of the music industry and I believe the ‘suicide note’ was a letter to his fans.

Anyway, I won’t bore you guys to death with this... I just thought it worth mentioning. I was (still am) a big fan of Nirvana and I thought Kurt Cobain was a phenomenal writer who spoke for many of us during our troubled teens. I hope that one day the case can be re-opened and Kurt Cobain’s spirit can find peace.

Edit: Ok, apparently Kurt Cobain's case isn't even in the database of Court TV's site. You've let me down, Court TV!

Ah man I didn't even know

Kurt Cobain isn't that much of a musical genious as some people say he is,I think, but in someway he was more of an artist. He kind of started grunge. He was inovative and make music out of love, a thing you hardly see lately.

Respect to Kurt <3

12 years? damn...i was only ten when he died it's only stuck me now that he was already dead and gone before i first heard one of his songs...

yet, as with many people, kurt gave me an outlet during my adolescence. something very few artists could do...

and though i agree with neuro that he wasn't a "genius" musically, he was innovative and original, and wrote some amazing songs, some of which will likely be played on "classic" radio stations for the next generation.

would be interesting to see how he and his music evolved if he hadn't died (murder seeming likely).

RIP kurt

I missed the whole Nirvana thing. At the time of his death, I was in a self-imposed 20-year haitus from Rock and commercial music in general, after having been utterly saturated in it as a working musician through the early 80's.

Revisiting it now that I can again tolerate rock, Cobain and company certainy did create a turn in music. And I like it.

I wouldn't go so far as to say they CREATED Grunge. There was a lot of what sounds an awful lot like grunge going on much earlier. It seems to me to be a natural extension and blending of metal and punk. They certainly solidified the genre though... and found rare success in a business that chews up and spits out those few who even manage to gain its attention.

Kurt Cobain is another in a long line of Rock and Roll tragedies. He became the voice of a generation... and then destroyed that voice with his own hand.

Rest in peace, Kurt.

"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are."
--Kurt Cobain

It's clear to me now, I was 4 when Kurt died, So kurt build a time machine to go 4 years back, empregnated my mother, then went back and killed himself out of regret.

Nah =)

Damn you people. I feel so old right now.

When he died, I was seven. I guess I really didn't get to listen to his music until I was about 13. I loved a lot of his music. To me, it was very inspiring. My favorite album was his MTV unplugged....I loved the acoustics and their live music sounds great. Anyway, they were a good band. It's too bad that Kurt had to perish. He could have done a lot more good for the world.

Yeah, I was 8 when he died...I don't even remember hearing about it on the news. I agree that his talent is a little bit over hyped, but there's more to being a musician than just pure skill.

As for the murder/suicide deal...isn't it true that he had enough heroin in his system to kill him even if he wasn't shot?

Originally posted by this place
On April 8th 1994 Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, was found dead in his Seattle home of an apparent shotgun wound to the head and with three times the lethal amount of heroin in his system.

I found this here

So, yeah Brady. He did. Apparently three times that amount.

it's not the technical musicianship that made him/nirvana great, but the song writing ability. and as far as i know, they DID create "grunge."

It seems to me to be a natural extension and blending of metal and punk. [/b]

i'm not sure what you qualify as 'metal' or as 'punk'...nirvana was wrought of the 'post-punk' movement and is, in my opinion, analgous to new order in spawning an entirely new genre of crappy music. it's too bad that people find it so necessary to imitate those musicians the admire instead of using that as a launchpad for something entirely new and innovative--there can be only one nirvana.