Kurt Cobain was the lead singer, songwriter, and musician for the alternative rock band, Nirvana. He had and still has millions of fans around the world. Nirvana was formed in 1989 but took off in popularity in 1991 with the release of Nevermind, the initial release of the first album Bleach, which was not an instant success. (Cross, Heavier than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain). Kurt was born on February 20, 1967, in Aberdeen, Washington. His parents were Donald and Wendy Cobain. When he was just eight, they divorced in what Cobain would later say was a profound moment in his life (Cross 1). Kurt bounced around between his mother, father, and grandparents, and no matter where he was, he seemed unhappy. He finally ended up sleeping on friends' couches and even sleeping under the Wishka bridge when he had nowhere else to go. That experience was the inspiration for the song “Something in the Way.” Kurt was a creative child and a wonderful artist. Robert Hunter, Kurt’s art teacher said, “People only think of Kurt as a musician, but he was a very multitalented guy” (Johnson, Gene. “Portraits of a Troubled Artist.”) He once drew a pencil drawing that impressed Hunter a lot, he said his art excelled in “originality, creativity and sophistication” (Freedland, Jonathan. “Kurt Cobain: An Icon of Alienation.”). His mother said he was a perfectionist and never quite happy with his art (Azzerad 1).
Kurt did not feel like he fit in with his dad or his mom, he was shuffled around because of it. He felt like neither his dad nor mom wanted him, and as revenge, he threw four wrestling matches just to infuriate his father, and it worked, too well, and just like that Kurt had to move in with his Aunt Mari and Uncle Chuck. Kurt just could not find somewhere to belong. He moved in with his friend Jesse Reed until he was asked to leave. Reed’s parents told Wendy that Kurt was leading Jesse down the wrong path (Azzerad 1). He struggled with depression from early childhood. In an interview Wendy said “Kurt’s problems were ongoing, and we struggled with them for years. I talked him through so many nights” (Entertainment Weekly: A Mother’s View).
Despite the rocky relationship Kurt and his mother still saw each other and she would make care packages of food and other supplies to drop off at his rental house to help him out (Azzerad 1). She said she felt guilty for “letting Kurt go” (Azzerad 1). After getting his rental home, he began recording music at his Aunt Mari Earl’s house (Azzerad 1). She had a recorder where he made music with his first band, “Fecal Matter” (Azzerad 1). His deep lyrics show the pain he went through in childhood, and he began using opiates heavily at this time and said that he didn’t realize how addictive they were, he just liked the way it made him feel (Azzerad 1). He said they made him feel relaxed and as close to being asleep as possible (Azzerad 1). From this time onward he struggled with opiate addiction, an addiction he would never overcome.
He formed the band Nirvana in 1989 with his friend Krist Novaselic (Cross 1). Kurt and his bandmates were performing at small clubs with an audience of around two hundred people until the band's second album Nevermind took off. After Nevermind Kurt had more success than he had ever expected (Cross 1). In 1993, he married his girlfriend Courtney Love after only dating for three months, and soon after his daughter, Frances Bean was born (Cross 1).
The success Kurt found with Nevermind, along with the stress of being newly married with a baby continued to take its toll on Kurt, and his drug use continued (Cross 1). It seems as if no amount of money or success could fix the innermost demons that Kurt struggled with since early childhood. Kurt was a creative artist who tried to find peace in fame and with his family. He loved his daughter but no matter how deep the love was, addiction and depression ran deeper. His heavy lyrics resonated with pain, anger, and despair and many have found solace in the words and melodies of Kurt Cobain even almost thirty years after his passing.