Cobain had been missing for six days. The life of the 27-year-old singer, songwriter, and guitarist came to an end with a 20-gauge shotgun lying across his chest. Kurt Cobain’s body was discovered in a greenhouse above the garage of his Seattle home shortly before 9 a.M. On April 8th, just before 8 a.M.
The body had been lying there for two and a half days, according to the medical examiner’s report. Friends and a private investigation firm hired by the police were on the trail. Although traces of Valium and a high concentration of heroin were found, he was only identifiable by his fingerprints. An electrician discovered the installation of a security system in the house.
“Mark Lanegan, a member of Screaming Trees and a close friend of Cobain, says he had a genuine feeling that something really bad had happened before he was found about a week ago. He hadn’t been called by anyone, not even his family or other people. He hadn’t been called by me either. He says he didn’t hear from Cobain.”
I was involved in numerous occasions trying to get professional help for Kurt, as his associates and family friends had been worried about his chronic drug use and depression, says Danny Goldberg, the former manager of Nirvana and now president of Atlantic Records.
Janet Billig, who manages Courtney Love’s band Hole, revealed that Cobain had reached a point where he realized it was necessary to take extreme measures. According to Billig, Cobain had gone “cuckoo,” leading him to express to Love his dislike for playing with the band anymore. Love further disclosed that Cobain expressed a desire to exclusively collaborate with Michael Stipe of R.E.M.
“We didn’t document anything,” Stipe declared in a statement. “We were collaborating on a music endeavor recently, and I had numerous conversations with Kurt.”
He hadn’t actually been planning to take his own life, Cobain later told them that night. The officers confiscated a bottle of various unidentified pills and a gun. Love summoned them, telling them that her husband had locked himself in and that he was going to kill himself with a 38-caliber revolver in a room. On March 18, a domestic dispute escalated into a near disaster.
He says Chatoff “They called me to see what could be done”. “At this point, Love was along with Cobain’s bandmates and other family members in fear for his life.” Steven Chatoff, the executive director of Anacapa, a behavioral health center for the treatment of psychological disorders and addictions in Port Hueneme, California, started talking to a number of intervention counselors and members of the band’s management and family.
Chatoff, a counselor at Mountain Gold, found another intervention to address his friend’s decline and politely informed them. According to Chatoff, someone tipped him off that the procedure had been canceled and Cobain was upset. In preparation for a comprehensive intervention, Chatoff started interviewing business associates, family members, and friends.
“I was there to support him as a friend,” says Roddy Bottum, the former keyboardist of Faith No More, who flew from San Francisco to Seattle to care for Kurt Cobain and be there for his friend Courtney Love. “I had a genuine affection for Kurt,” Bottum adds, “and we had a great connection. We really clicked.”
On March 25th, roughly 10 of Nirvana’s bandmates and friends, including Pat Smear, Krist Novoselic, and Dylan Carlson, as well as Bill Goldberg, John Silva, and Pat Smear’s longtime friend, staged their own separate confrontation with Cobain in the basement. This tense, five-hour session was the result of Cobain not checking into rehab after being threatened by Love to leave the band if he didn’t. Novoselic had already gone home, but Love and the others, including Cobain’s manager, John Silva, and Pat Smear, were determined to intervene.
According to Billig, Love arrived at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills on the morning of the 26th and started an outpatient program to “cleanse from tranquilizers.” Billig and Love traveled to Los Angeles after a stop in San Francisco. Love would express regret for leaving Cobain alone during a memorial gathering for Cobain two weeks later, stating that “That ’80s tough-love nonsense — it doesn’t work” in a recorded message. Instead of convincing Cobain to fly to Los Angeles with her and check into rehab together, Love ended up on a plane with Billig at the end of the first day of intervention. The couple’s daughter, Frances Bean, and a nanny followed the next day.
On March 30, Cobain visited Carlson’s residence in Seattle to request a firearm as Cobain believed there were intruders on Cobain’s land.
We had a conversation and he appeared to be normal. Carlson claims that I had lent him guns. Because Carlson believes that the police would confiscate it, Cobain did not want to buy the shotgun himself. This is because he was afraid that the police would take away his other firearms, as they had done since the domestic dispute that happened 12 days ago.
In Del Rey, California, at Marina Hospital, located within the Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital, and also at the Exodus Recovery Center, Cobain encountered Cobain at the Los Angeles airport and drove him to the Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital, situated in Marina del Rey, California, within the Exodus Recovery Center. Cobain himself insisted on retaining the shotgun. However, Cobain left the weapon at his residence and departed Seattle to admit himself into a rehabilitation facility. The authorities believe that Cobain gave Carlson a sum of money, with which Cobain bought a six-pound Remington 20-gauge shotgun and a box of bullets for approximately $300, as stated by Carlson. “It seemed somewhat peculiar that he was purchasing the shotgun before his departure. Therefore, I offered to keep it until he returned,” Carlson stated. Cobain and Carlson proceeded to Stan’s Gun Shop nearby and bought a six-pound Remington 20-gauge shotgun and a box of bullets for approximately $300.
Photographs: Follow the ascent of Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, and others in Michael Lavine’s pictures.
Cobain’s decision to enter Exodus, “because that was simply another rehabilitation ‘polish and rejuvenate,'” states Chatoff regarding Cobain’s decision to enter Exodus, “I was not in favor of that whatsoever,” states Chatoff regarding Cobain’s decision to enter Exodus, “I was not in favor of that whatsoever,” prior to Cobain’s departure for Los Angeles, Chatoff reveals that he had numerous phone conversations with Cobain despite his inability to follow through with his intentions.
Later disclosed to a Seattle newspaper, she stated, “He conveyed, ‘Courtney, irrespective of the outcome, I want you to be aware that you have created an exceptionally commendable record.'” Love, who was still situated at the Peninsula, dialed Cobain, who resided at the 20-bed clinic for two days, on April 1. “I inquired, ‘Well, what do you imply?’ And he replied, ‘Just remember, regardless of anything, I hold affection for you,'” she conveyed. That marked the final instance Love conversed with her spouse. (Hole were scheduled to unveil their second album, Live Through This, 11 days later.)
“However, a representative for Exodus claims that a few individuals are able to escape. “We closely monitor our patients,” they state. In reality, it was a solid wall exceeding 6 feet in height. Love explains that Cobain “leaped over the barrier.” At 7:25 p.M., Cobain informed the clinic’s staff that he would be going outside to smoke on the patio. He returned after one hour.” As per one of Cobain’s acquaintances at the facility, “I anticipated him appearing disheveled and despondent. To my surprise, he looked incredibly well.”
Kurt Cobain, born in 1967 and passed away in 1994.
In a specific three-story brick building described as a bohemian and upscale location in Seattle’s District Hill Capitol, it was suggested that they were looking for Cobain, who might be suicidal and involved in narcotics. Wendy O’Connor, Cobain’s mother, stated that she had been afraid for her son’s safety and filed a missing-person’s report on April 4. She said, “Neither could anybody else get ahold of him, but [Kurt] had seen DeWitt Michael, whose real name is Bean’s Frances nanny [Cali]. I talked to him on April 2, Saturday.” Carlson added, “I hired private investigators to track him down, but Love had already flown back to Seattle and canceled Cobain’s credit cards.”
Cobain is thought to have spent a night at his summer residence in Carnation with a companion whose identity remains unknown. Residents in the area claim to have seen Cobain in a park close to his house, appearing unwell and dressed oddly in a heavy coat. Some speculate that he may have visited a firearms store to purchase additional bullets, but law enforcement authorities maintain that Cobain aimlessly wandered the town without a definite plan in his last moments.
Pictures: Uncommon Kurt Cobain Photographs, Artwork, and Diary Entries.
The police believed that his driver’s license, which was tossed on the floor, would help them identify him. He also penned a one-page note in red ink. The evidence at the scene suggests that he removed his hunter’s cap, which he wore when he didn’t want people to recognize him. Sometime before or on the afternoon of April, Cobain barricaded himself in the greenhouse above his garage, propping a stool against the French doors. It is believed that he dug into a cigar box, which was believed to contain his drug stash.
The police report claims that two people have stated that Cobain died on the afternoon of April 5th, although the county medical examiner determined that Cobain pulled the trigger and pressed the barrel of a 20-gauge shotgun to his head. It is likely that he took more heroin before sitting down, drawing a chair up to a window overlooking Puget Sound. The rest of the tragedy was reconstructed for MTV: Love.
The authorities refrained from entering the residence, despite interrogating individuals stationed outside his abode regarding their prior encounters with him prior to the discovery of Cobain’s corpse. “I was collaborating with [an investigator],” Carlson recounts, “and on the day we intended to search for him in Carnation, we were informed of his demise.” In a cruel turn of events, it wasn’t until April 6 that Love’s personal detectives arrived in Seattle.
On April 7th, an emergency call was placed to 911 about a possible overdose victim at the Peninsula Hotel. When the police, fire department, and ambulances arrived at the scene, they found Eric Erlandson, the guitarist of Hole, and Frances Bean, Love’s nanny, staying in the room next to Love. Love was later taken to Century City Hospital, arriving around 9:30 am and was released two hours later. Lt. Joe Lombardi of the Beverly Hills Police Department said that Love was booked for possession/receiving stolen property, possession of a hypodermic syringe, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance.
Tarlow asserts that “she experienced an allergic response” to the sedative Xanax. He claims that despite what has been reported, Love was not “under the influence of heroin” and did not “overdose.” Barry Tarlow, Love’s criminal attorney, explains that the stolen item was a prescription pad that “her doctor… Unintentionally left behind while visiting… There were no prescriptions written on it.” And as for the controlled substance? Tarlow states, “They are Hindu good-luck ashes, a gift from her entertainment lawyer Rosemary Carroll,” emphasizing that they are not narcotics.
Love was released at around 3 p.M. After posting bail of $10,000. She immediately checked herself into the same rehabilitation facility, Exodus Recovery Center, where her husband had escaped the previous week. She found out that her husband had been there when she received a word on the day following April 8th, earlier in the week.
Cobains were not allowed to be alone with their newborn daughter for one month, as a result of subsequent media attention. (This has been denied by Love.) It was reported in the infamous Vanity Fair article written by Lynn Hirschberg, which was published in August 1992, that Love used heroin while pregnant with Frances Bean, making headlines in tabloids for the first time during Cobain’s troubled period.
Bean Frances was born before Cobain admitted to using heroin and detoxed. In subsequent interviews, Cobain never admitted to “dabbling” in heroin and detoxing twice in the past year. In September 1992, in Los Angeles, the couple regained custody of the girl they were living with, after a long and taxing battle with children’s services.
In the spring of 1993, the band recorded Utero with producer Steve Albini, marking the beginning of another series of frightening events in Minnesota.
Love informed the authorities that this type of incident had occurred previously. She also administered Cobain a Valium, three Benadryls, and four Tylenol tablets with codeine, resulting in him vomiting. As Cobain’s mother and sister were present, Love injected her spouse with buprenorphine, an illicit substance used to revive someone after a heroin overdose. As stated in a police report, Cobain had consumed heroin. However, just six weeks later, on May 2, Cobain returned home (at that time in Seattle’s Sand Point area) trembling, flushed, and disoriented. Initially, there was positive news: On March 23, 1993, after a ruling in the Family Court of Los Angeles, the supervision of the Cobains’ child-rearing by children’s services was terminated.
The police arrived at the Cobains’ residence once again on June 4, following a series of events involving Cobain’s drug use and a domestic dispute in March 1994. During the dispute, three guns were confiscated from the house, one of which was a Taurus .380 loaned to Cobain by Carlson. Cobain was subsequently booked for domestic assault and spent three hours in jail. Love had called the police after an argument with Cobain over the guns in the house.
Fans were unaware of the distinction. However, Nirvana put on a show that evening at the Roseland Ballroom. He had taken an excessive amount of drugs once more. She unlocked the door and discovered Cobain in an unresponsive state. Love perceived a loud noise in the bathroom of the New York hotel where the couple was residing, on the morning of July 23, after seven weeks had passed.
The musician, Kurt Cobain, frequently experienced drastic changes in mood, confirming that many of those close to him, including therapists and doctors, witnessed his clinical depression in the last few years of his life. According to Gold Mountain, Cobain had been diagnosed with clinical depression as early as high school. However, despite recent interventions, he never seemed to fully believe that he had a problem. Only a few people, such as Farry (his former manager assistant and baby sitter) and Cali, Courtney, saw him become more reclusive with each tour he returned from.
According to Butch Vig, the producer of Nevermind, Kurt had the ability to be extremely sociable, amusing, and captivating. However, just thirty minutes later, he would withdraw and become completely sullen and unresponsive. Goldberg adds that Kurt was like a ticking time bomb, and there was nothing anyone could do to intervene.
In Utero was released on September 14. Despite suffering from chronic stomach pain, Cobain had made a promise not to go on any long tours unless he was able to manage the pain. However, the band hit the road and conducted interviews, including a long stretch of dates in the US with Rolling Stone in October. According to sources, Cobain detoxed from heroin before the tour.
Geffen made the decision to take down Cobain’s artwork featuring model fetuses from the rear cover. To convince retailers like Kmart and Wal-Mart to stock the album, which they had previously declined, Cobain gave Geffen permission to make some alterations to In Utero. Surprising many, the band then took a break in Seattle for the following few weeks. On January 8, 1994, Nirvana held their final American concert at the Seattle Center Arena.
Utero was banned in Singapore, and the altered version was the only one shipped to the country. In the end, Kurt decided to represent himself as Waif, someone who symbolizes mercy towards others. He chose Waif because it does not specify a particular gender, just like the concept of rape. “Me” wanted to call the song “Rape” initially, but Kurt ultimately decided to change the title to “Me” Waif. Ray Farrell, from Geffen’s sales department, picked the name “Me” Waif and also changed the title song to “Rape.”
According to Alex Macleod, there were two buses that the manager drove. Novoselic and Grohl rode in one bus, while Smear and Cobain traveled in another. The crew and band traveled by bus. This was Nirvana’s first time touring in Europe, with many consecutive dates scheduled. They began their tour in Lisbon, Portugal, and made a TV appearance in France. On February 5th, they started their tour in Lisbon, Portugal, and made a TV appearance in France. Nirvana had many scheduled dates in Europe. The crew and band traveled by bus. Novoselic and Grohl rode in one bus, while Smear and Cobain traveled in another. According to Alex Macleod, there were two buses that the manager drove.
“The performances went exceedingly well,” remembers Macleod. “However, Kurt was fatigued; I mean, we were frequently on the go.”
Cobain began to lose his voice while on a tour in France, about 10 to 12 days before heading back to Paris. To alleviate his discomfort, he purchased a throat spray administered in Paris.
Germany performed in Munich, at the Einz Terminal, on later days two and 27 Feb. In Ljubjana, the former Yugoslavia, including a handful of Italian and French cities, Nirvana swung through. It would be Nirvana’s final show. He was diagnosed with severe bronchitis and laryngitis, so he was given medicine and a spray for his lungs. Macleod says, “Cobain was told to rest for four to two days.” Cobain says Macleod lost his voice halfway through the performance. The next day, he went to see a specialist for his throat, nose, and ears because he lost his voice halfway through the performance. Cobain says Macleod was given medicine and a spray for his lungs. He was told to rest for four to two days. It would be Nirvana’s final show performed in Ljubjana, the former Yugoslavia, on 27 Feb. In Munich, Germany, at the Einz Terminal.
“‘Forget that,'” he said. “And he said ‘Forget that,'” just like they always say. “‘You must take a minimum of two months off and learn to sing correctly.’ ‘You should not be singing the way you are singing,'” the doctor who recommended the throat spray to Cobain informed him. As per Macleod.
The band, headed by Smear and Cobain, had made shows in Rome, with 23 shows in total. Grohl played drums on the soundtrack for the film “Backbeat” and stayed in Germany to participate in shooting a video. He flew back to Seattle the following day to oversee repair work on his house. The band took a rest and postponed two more German shows in Offenbach and Munich until April 13 and 12.
Cobain decided to stay in Europe. Due to his condition, he experienced significant fatigue and jet lag, making it impractical for him to take the plane trip. Like everyone else, many people were disappointed that these two shows had to be cancelled. “However, it was impossible for him to perform the following night,” Macleod explains.
During the interview, Love said that Valium is a controlled substance and is not available in the United States, but is known as “Roipnol” in some parts of Europe. It has also been used as an alternative to methadone for heroin withdrawal and to treat severe anxiety and insomnia. According to pharmacists, Valium is a manufactured tranquilizer by Roche. The writer also says that Love was popping Rohypnol during their tour with her band Hole, as a way to treat withdrawal from heroin and alcohol and severe anxiety. Love, who was preparing for an English tour with her band, was interviewed by a writer for the British monthly magazine Select in a hotel room in London on the same day that Cobain checked into the five-star Hotel Excelsior in Rome on March 3.
According to Gold Mountain, Cobain also requested champagne through room service. That evening, he dispatched a bellboy to obtain a prescription for Rohypnol. The following day, Love, Frances Bean, and Cali joined Cobain in Rome.
He insists that it wasn’t a suicide note, but Billig says, “A note was found at the scene of Gold Mountain that denies a suicide attempt was made. It has been revealed that 50 pills were found in Cobain’s stomach, individually unwrapped and sold in tinfoil packets; some of these pills were Rohypnol. Since the incident was portrayed as an accident, it has been denied that Cobain took all of Courtney’s money and ran away. I have never seen him eat almost everything before, but I have seen him really messed up before,” she told in a later interview. “I reached out for him and blood was coming out of his nose, and the morning following at 6:30.”
During that time, according to Cobain’s physician Osvaldo Galletta, it was reported that the musician had experienced “no lasting harm.” After three days, he was given permission to depart from the medical facility. However, 20 hours later, he regained consciousness and promptly wrote down his initial demand on a notepad: “Remove these damn tubes from my nostrils.” Cobain was immediately taken to Rome’s Umberto I Polyclinic Hospital for urgent care lasting five hours before being relocated to the American Hospital located just beyond the city.
“He won’t elude me that effortlessly,” Love later expressed. “I’ll track him through hell.”
Seattle then came back a few days later. Carlson says, “I saw Kurt in Rome on the day he arrived.” He was really upset about all the attention it got in the media. Carlson didn’t notice anything abnormal about Cobain’s behavior or health. Neither Rome nor anyone close to Cobain had told him about the suicide attempt. Like many of Cobain’s friends, he regrets that Rome had attempted suicide.
All were filled with grief, confusion, and concern after Cobain’s death, pointing fingers at each other. Love revealed on MTV the morning after Cobain was found, “Everyone feels guilty, raise your hand.” She said she was wearing Cobain’s jeans and socks while carrying a lock of her husband’s blond hair. According to Billig, a doctor was called to stay with Love at all times. Montgomery Craig says that Hole’s spring tour was canceled since “she’s not strong enough, it takes a person who is strong enough.”
Montgomery states, “It was challenging to envision Kurt aging and finding satisfaction. For a long time, I have had dreams about it concluding in this manner. What unsettles me is how isolated and excluded he felt. He was the one who excluded many of his acquaintances.”
“Merely attributing it to heroin is foolish. . . . Heroin was simply a minor component of his existence,” Novoselic expressed to a Seattle newspaper, asserting that he thought Cobain’s demise was caused by incomprehensible internal influences.
The news of Cobain’s death on Seattle’s KXRX-FM was initially reported. A co-worker of Gary Smith, the electrician who discovered Cobain’s body, contacted the station and claimed to have the “scoop of the century,” further stating, “you will have to compensate me with numerous concert tickets for this.”
Marty Reimer, the on-air figure who received the call, expresses, “Disseminating this information was somewhat of a creepy choice to make.” “We’re not a news channel,” Wendy O’Connor, his mother, conveyed to a journalist, “Now he’s departed and become a member of that foolish association,” alluding to Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, and Jim Morrison. “I advised him against joining that foolish association.” Cobain’s sister, Kim, initially learned about her brother’s demise through radio broadcasts, as did his mother.
KIRO-FM’s DJ in Seattle exclaimed, “He died as a coward, leaving behind a little girl without a father.” After the story was aired on the radio, Seattle DJs took to the airwaves and played reruns of Nirvana’s Unplugged performance on MTV, as reported by the Associated Press, Reimer.
The suicide of Cobain’s manager, Kelly Curtis, caused the band to cancel their plans for a summer tour in the U.S., According to the Pearl Jam’s later statement. Two weeks later, during a concert in Washington, D.C., Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, told the crowd with a solemn plea, “I swear to God. Don’t die.” Vedder’s words resonated with the packed audience, reminding them of the tragic loss of Kurt Cobain and urging them to value their lives.
“Following the discovery of his remains, Kimberly Wagner, a sixteen-year-old, spent four hours perched on a wall outside Cobain’s residence in Seattle, responding to inquiries from media outlets hungry for news and shedding tears. “I simply came here in search of an explanation,” she wept. “However, I doubt I will find one.”
All the people would be depressed about it, but I thought about killing myself a while ago too. But now, listening to Kurt’s music puts me in a better mood, so I’ll go and listen to him. Sometimes I get mad and depressed at my friends, mom, or myself. Steve Adams, a friend, stood nearby during the Gray Line bus tour, which was full of curious seekers.
The Crisis Clinic in Seattle received approximately 300 calls per day, which is more than usual, indicating an increase in suicide attempts or overdoses coming to our emergency room at Harborview Medical Center, according to Dr. Christos Dagadakis, the director of emergency psychiatry.
Kaspar Daniel, a young man, tragically took his own life at the age of 28. This unfortunate incident occurred shortly after he returned home from a vigil related to Cobain’s suicide. It is believed that this may have been his first experience with such a tragedy, as Seattle, known for its connection to Cobain, held an emotional vigil for fans in a park near the Space Needle. The vigil lasted from April 10th until it concluded, attracting approximately 5,000 attendees.
Devastated since learning about Cobain’s tragic passing, acquaintances mentioned that she had secluded herself in her room, blared Nirvana tunes, and tragically ended her life – a 16-year-old admirer of Cobain’s in southern Turkey. The impact of Cobain’s self-inflicted death resonated worldwide.
He was later cremated. Cobain’s body was still in the custody of the medical examiners; there was no casket. A private memorial service for Cobain’s family was scheduled at the nearby Unity Church in Seattle; it would take place on the day of the candlelight vigil in Seattle.
The Reverend Stephen Towles addressed the invited attendees, numbering around 150, and expressed, “Committing suicide is akin to putting our finger in a vise. The agony intensifies to such an extent that it becomes unbearable.” Subsequently, the ceremony commenced.
Novoselic delivered a brief tribute afterwards, urging mourners to “recall Kurt for who he truly was — compassionate, kind, and affectionate.” Passages from a poet following the Buddhist tradition were recited by Carlson.
I have a daughter who reminds me too much of myself, Cobain had written. She had not read the tape for the vigil, which included parts that she did not read. She told anecdotes about Cobain’s childhood and read some of Cobain’s favorite poems from Arthur Rimbaud’s Illuminations and passages from the Book of Job, dressed in black.
Courtney, if he hadn’t met Danny Goldberg several years ago, he would have said that Last spoke to him. Now, Michael Stipe, who was the president of Capitol Records, read a eulogy faxed by Gary Gersh, the person who signed Nirvana when he was with Geffen.
America is using violence against mothers, including guns, to kill himself. Meanwhile, Cobain donated all of his belongings, including guns, to Love. Both the Los Angeles and Seattle Children’s Services departments confirmed that they had no workers assigned to Frances Bean’s case. Regardless, they will be setting up a scholarship fund for high school students in Aberdeen, Washington, in honor of Cobain’s artistic and academic promise. Novoselic and Grohl have not told their side of the story to the press, nor have they written about it.