Kurt Cobain Turns 50: Seven Facts about the Late Nirvana Frontman

Kurt Cobain. Pixaby: Inspiredimages

On February 20, the world celebrated what would have been Kurt Cobain’s 50^th birthday. Born in Aberdeen, Washington in 1967, the singer would later become the face and voice of grunge in the late 1980s and early 1990s with his band Nirvana. Still beloved after all these years, Cobain left behind a legacy of brilliant music, the likes of which the world will probably never see again.

In honor of Cobain’s 50^th birthday, Vinyl Bay777, Long Island’s top music outlet, is taking a look at the man behind the music and lyrics.We have gathered seven facts about the singer that provide interesting details about his life, his music and his legacy.

1.       He was once the top-earning dead celebrity: In 2006, Courtney Love sold a 25 percent stake in Nirvana’s recordings, which would allow their music to be licensed for promotional purposes. By putting Cobain’s name, legacy and music out into the world again, she made him a lot of money. So much so that it boosted him to the top spot of Forbes’ list of top-earning deceased celebrities of 2006, beating out names like Elvis Presley and John Lennon. The boost only lasted a year, as he was no longer on that list in 2007.

2.       He Once Wrote and Starred in a Horror Movie: Before Cobain became the face and voice of grunge, he decided to create a horror film with future Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and a few of his other friends. Originally titled ‘The Horror Movies,’ the short, self-recorded film was referred to by those involved as ‘Kurt’s Bloody Suicide,’ as he fakes slitting his throat in one scene.

3.       He suffered from chronic stomach pain: We all know that Cobain had a lot of mental anguish and suffered from depression, which ultimately took his life. But the singer was in a lot of physical pain as well. He had very well-documented stomach issues which made him violently ill. In the documentary ‘Montage of Heck,’ it is said that this pain was the reason Cobain started taking heroin.

4.       He was a feminist: When Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, four female singers took the stage with Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl to take turns crooning the band’s hits. This was because of comments Cobain was a staunch feminist who spoke out about the terrible ways women were, and still are, treated in both interviews and his lyrics.

5.       Sometimes he spelled his name “Kurdt”: There is not a lot of information about this, but on Nirvana’s first album, ‘Bleach,’ Cobain was credited in the liner notes as “Kurdt.” This isn’t the only time he has been referred this way. He apparently wrote it that way at various points in his journals as well.

6.       He wrote “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to sound like a Pixies song: Cobain was a big fan of The Pixies, so much so that he had admitted to trying to rip off the band’s style when writing “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1993, Cobain said of the song, “I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies, I have to admit it. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.” This was one of the reasons that Cobain disliked playing the song so much, telling Rolling Stone in the same interview “I think there are so many other songs that I’ve written that are as good, if not better, than that song, like ‘Drain You.’ On a bad night I can barely get through ‘Teen Spirit.’ I literally want to throw my guitar down and walk away. I can’t pretend to have a good time playing it.”

7.       He has a lot of unreleased material: Cobain reportedly had a lot of songs, fragments of songs and sound collages that are recorded at the time of his death, most of which will likely never see an official release. Some of his demos have though, including a duet he did with Courtney Love called “Stinking of You,” released as part of the film ‘Hit So Hard’ in 2011, and 13 never-before-heard demos used as the soundtrack to 2015’s ‘Montage of Heck.’

On the day after what would have been his birthday, we remember him for the legacy of amazing music and progressive thought he has left behind. Though Kurt Cobain’s life was cut tragically short, his music still brings comfort to many generations of fans that don’t feel quite so alone after hearing it.

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Celebrate the life of Kurt Cobain by picking up music by Nirvana and more at Vinyl Bay 777 and vinylbay777.com. We have thousands of titles to choose from with more being added all the time. We have a wide selection of new and used vinyl, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, memorabilia and more in store and online. Whether you are a fan of grunge, metal or classical, there is something for everyone at Long Island’s top new independent record shop, Vinyl Bay 777.