A tribute to the ‘Man who Sold the World’

By: Abhimanyu Kukreja The April heat waves become more and more pinching as fans mourn the 13th death anniversary of ‘Nirvana’ front man, Kurt Donald Cobain. After the early 1990’s Seattle grunge movement, Nirvana has reached a point of acceptance throughout the world. The hand behind the success of one of the greatest rock n roll bands of all time was Kurt Donald Cobain. Kurt was born on 20th February 1967 and met with a tragic death on 5th April 1994. Records say that he committed suicide but many claim it was a murder. Lets take a walk through an undying legend’s memory lane, highlighting some of the significant moments of a legend who saw both the shades of life, i.e. good and the bad.

Cobain was found dead in a spare room above his garage at his Lake Washington home by Veca Electric employee Gary Smith on 8th April 1994. Even though he rests in peace, his voice has continued to echo around the world.

Angst-ridden grunge rocker Kurt Cobain had pushed Elvis into second place in a list of highest-earning dead celebrities, with the late Nirvana front man raking in 50 million dollars in 2005. While Elvis, has been dead for almost 31 years, Cobain managed to topple him in a span of just 12 years after his death in 1994. As his last lines read, “Its better to burn out than to fade away.” Cobain has faded from this world but still remains alive in a million hearts. Early Life: An intense childhood

Born on 20th February 1967 in Grays Horbar Community hospital in Aberdeen, Washington, Cobain spent the first 6 months of his life in Hoquiam, Washington. Later the family moved to Aberdeen. He developed an early interest in music and is said to have sung, ‘Hey Jude’ of the Beatles fame at age 2. Kimberly, his younger sister was born on April 1970. Cobain was admitted to Robert Gray Elementary school. His early childhood was happy as he lived in a typical American family. Cobain was prescribed Retalin for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which many blame is the reason behind his heroin addiction during the later stages.

After a happy early childhood, nightmares began when Kurt’s parents Donald and Wendy Cobain got divorced in 1975. The separation of his parents left a deep impact on Kurt which was a big influence on his music. He became more withdrawn day by day. His main focus was on his art classes where he often drew objects associated with foetus and human anatomy. Cobain would intentionally ‘strike out’ during his school baseball matches to avoid the play unlike other children.

The good part of his life began with his childhood as he started building his own musical world. Cobain got his first guitar when he was 14 years old. During the early 1990’s when Pop and punk was the buzz, Cobain created a music which was neither punk nor metal, but a mix of both as he experimented with his guitar and voice to form a distinct grungy sound. Most of his work was an elaboration of the mishaps in his life which were triggered after his parents divorce.