Kurt Cobain Story Essay, Research Paper
Kurt Donald Cobain was born in Aberdeen, Washington ( about 60 miles southwest of
Seattle). He grew up in a mid-class society and was hyperactive as child, so his doctor put
him on Ritalin ( a morphine based drug to help him concentrate in school). The drug often
kept him up until 4am. So he was given sedatives to get to sleep. Kurt had a happy
childhood, until his parents got divorced when he was seven. It was an ordinary divorce,
but Kurt got very upset about it. He said he never felt loved or secure again. He became
shy and very difficult to cope with. For years after the divorce he moved back and forth
with his parents. In the end his parents wanted nothing to do with him, so he moved in
with some relatives at this time. Kurt didn?t like school, he felt lost and lonely. He liked
to paint and sing, but the other boy?s were more into ?football and stuff like that? he put
it. Most of the girls liked Kurt and he spent much of his time with them. The boys
wanted to hang out with him to get closer to the girls, but Kurt hated the guts of those
?macho boys?. Until Kurt was nine years-old he only listened to The Beatles and The
Monkees, but in -79 his father joined a record-club and started listening to band like Led
Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and KISS. He also stared listening to British alternative rock
like Sex Pistols and The Clash. On February 2, 1981 Kurt bought his first guitar on his
14th birthday. In the years to follow he tried to develop his own style of music, and
started to hang out in the Seattle underground, where he was a roadie for a band called the
Melvins. In school Kurt?s attitude didn?t win him many friends, he often got beatings from
?jocks?, Kurt got even by spraypainting ?QUEER? on their trucks. In May 1985 a few
weeks before graduation Kurt dropped out of high-school to work. He had a few jobs,
but never any success. He never held onto a job for that long. For Kurt Amberdeen was
dead and moved on to Olympia. He formed and reformed a series of bands before
Nirvana came to be in 1986 of Kurt Cobain and Krist Novaselic. Kurt played the guitar
and sang while Krist played the bass-guitar. They went through many drummers, two
while recording their first record Bleach. This album only cost $606.17, and has since
then gone platinum. They later started to tour the US and later the same year had their
first European concert in Newcastle, England. The following year they released a single
without much success. By now Nirvana thought that they had got an unfair advantage in
the industry, they decided to change record companies form Sub-Pop records to Geffen
records. It was at this time they finally had a drummer that would stay, Dave Grohl. On
September 24th the same year Nevermind was released and debuts as number 144 on the
Billboard lists, but after an interview on MTV?s Headbanger?s Ball and an appearance on
NBC?s Saturday Night Live the album went straight to the top spot with their hit song
?Smells like teen spirit?. Kurt had never expected the band to be so popular and didn?t
even like the idea of being a mainstream rocker. He had hated the commercial part of
Nirvana and had several times encouraged the audience to stop buying their records and
stop coming to their concerts. Kurt thought most fans were false fans and only liked their
hit single ?Smells like teen spirit?. During this time Kurt stared using heroin, he said he
used it as a shield from the rigorous demands of touring and to stop the pain of stomach
ulcers. Cobain was distressed to find out that what he wrote and how it was being
interpreted could quite often be miles apart. He was appalled when he found out that
?Polly? , a heavily ironic anti-rape song, had been used as background music in a real
gang-rape. He later appealed to fans on the Incesticide liner notes ?If any of you don?t
like gays or women or blacks, please leave us the f*** alone.? Kurt found that as an
overnight musician control was something he had very little of. He also worried that his
band had sold-out, that it was attracting the wrong type of fans (i.e. the type that used to
beat him up.) On January 24, 1992, Kurt got married to former stripper Courtney Love in
Wakiki, Hawaii. She is now known for her band Hole. Six months after their marriage
Courtney gave birth to their child, Frances Bean. In the press there were allegations that
while pregnant Courtney was using heroin, Courtney denied this. In the beginning of 1993
they record wh
two weeks, but wasn?t released for another six months, due to the work-title ?I Hate
Myself And I Want To Die?. This title reflects the fact of Kurt being suicidal. When on a
seminar in July -93 he overdosed on heroin. Courtney injected him with an illegal drug to
save him. Later that day he went onstage and played a concert, no one noticed anything.
From that point Kurt?s drug abuse got out of control. Courtney threatened to leave him if
he didn?t get treatment for his abuse. He agreed, but didn?t last long at the rehab center.
He escaped form the center although it was voluntary. He said it ?was a place for retards
or something.? In the beginning of 1993 Nirvana played an MTV Unplugged concert,
they played songs that as Kurt said were his influence growing up. Rumors circulated that
the MTV Unplugged compilation would be Nirvana?s last album and the band was
splitting up. Then in the winter of 1993-94 Nirvana embarked on an extensive European
tour. Twenty concerts into the tour Cobain developed throat problems and their schedule
was interrupted while he recovered. While recovering Kurt flew to Rome to join his wife
who was also preparing to tour with her own band. On March 4th Kurt was rushed to the
hospital in a coma after an unsuccessful suicide in which he washed sown about 50
Rophynol (strong prescription sedative) with champagne. He had also left a note that said
?You don?t love me anymore. I?d rather die than divorce you.? The suicide was officially
called an accident and was not even made known to close friends and associates. When
Kurt came out of his coma Courtney was there and said ?I?d never divorce you. You?re
crazy.? She also said ?I?d follow you through hell.?, she was about to. Several days later
he returned to Seattle. Things only got worse, Kurt had started doing speed and had
stopped bathing. He dressed in hunting gear and roamed the house with a shotgun. On
March 18th Courtney called the police, Kurt had locked himself in the bathroom with a
bunch of guns. When the police got there they confiscated four guns, 25 boxes of ammo,
and a bottle of pills. Later Courtney called Exodus Recovery Center, they had agreed to
come and pick up Kurt. When they arrived Kurt refused to go, the tenants wrestled him
outside. He was spitting in the face of anyone who came near screaming ?F–K YOU!!!?
They said that they couldn?t force him to go, ?if you love him you will go and he will
follow ? they told her. She checked into the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel, she had
Frances and her nanny, Jackie, with her. Kurt would call, he would nod off on the phone.
He also told her that he would check in, but wandered Seattle instead. March 30th Kurt
and Dylan Carson, Kurt?s old friend, went to Stan?s Gun Shop and Kurt bought a
Remmington Model 11 20-gauge shotgun, Dylan said he didn?t know Kurt was suicidal
and believed him when he said he wanted it for protection. Kurt went home and stashed
his prize, then went and checked into the rehab center in Las Angeles. Courtney was
forbidden to visit him for three days. On April 1st Jackie, the nanny, brought Frances to
visit her father. He played with her and called Courtney and said ?Just remember, no
matter what, I love you.? A few hours later he climbed the walls at the rear of the
hospital. When Courtney found out she went to rock stars and got drug dealers numbers
and went to see them to make sure Kurt wasn?t there. Kurt had gone to LAX and flew to
Seattle. When he arrived Kurt went straight home. On April 2nd Kurt took a cab
downtown and purchased 25 shotgun shells at Seattle Guns. He then tried to call
Courtney, but he was blocked by the hotel?s switchboard eventhough Courtney said to
hold all calls except those from her husband. On April 5th he took Chim-Chim, a
treasured plastic monkey he had shown a decal of to Courtney when they first met, and
put it in a secret place where Courtney would find it days later. He left the TV on and
retrieved his shotgun, climbed the stairs to the greenhouse. He locked one set of French
doors and wedged a stool beneath the other?s handles. Looking out over dreary Lake
Washington Kurt smoked six cigarettes and drank some root beer. He then scratched a
note to Buddha, an invisible childhood friend, then Kurt injected a triple-dose of heroin.
Before it could kill him he put the shotgun?s barrel into his mouth, and pulled the trigger.
Kurt Cobain died at 27.
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