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Shawndalee Brooks Professor Lora Kelly Music 1040 November 24, 2013 Biography Report- Nirvana

Nirvana started off with only two main people back in 1987 in Aberdeen, Washington. The band consisted of the main lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic who played bass. While first forming the band they were in search of a much needed drummer, they started off with a couple different ones such as Aaron Burckhard, Dan Peters and Dale from the Melvins. The band Nirvana had used many different drummers, before deciding on Chad Channing who later was replaced by Dave Grohl. Dave Grohl was recorded as the new drummer in albums such as Nevermind, In Utero and With the Lights Out. Nirvana became very popular and well known, and started by introducing their European Tour. People loved Nirvana for their rebellious songs, their punk rock attitude and their outrageous lyrics. The band played very catchy grunge like music, with lyrics written by Kurt Cobain the seemed to revolve a lot around suicidal thoughts, depression, drug use and rebellion. Songs such as, Come as You Are, Smells Like Teen Spirit and I Hate Myself and Want to Die. Nirvana came out with a total number of six albums released, gained a great success but all came to a halt on April 5, 1994. Kurt Cobain had struggled With heroine use and depression over his life time, had overdose and relapsed and left suicide notes, on this day Kurt Cobain was found dead in a room above

2 the garage of his Seattle home. The man that had found him was the electrician putting a new security system in the Seattle home, he found Kurt with a gunshot wound to the head. The news shocked the world, it was appalling and there was no real explanation for what happened other than it seemed that Kurt had committed suicide. Kurt was born on February 20, 1967, to a torn apart family, which he seemed to not feel loved by. His parents divorced when Kurt was eight years old, he was kicked out and put onto the streets where he was forced to live under a bridge, and house hop for a place to live. Growing up he experimented playing around with the guitar and singing, with the help of his Aunt Mary he began recording himself from her home. His first recording track was at the age of 15, which convinced him to one day have a band. When he met Kris Novoselic, he knew he had a chance of making his dream actually come true. Putting together the band Nirvana made Kurt Cobain instantly famous, even though it took some time and hard work. With the fame and fortune, had also came along the drugs. Kurt started using heroine while in the band Nirvana, living the life a rock star. Kurt was currently in love with as well as living with his girlfriend Tracy Marander. The couple struggled financially, but Tracy wasnt worried about the money, she loved Kurt and who he was as a person. While exploring and enjoying the party and fame lifestyle, during this time he met his future wife to be, Courtney Love. She was a partier and rocker as well, already in her own band Hole. They shared common interest, including the use of heroine.

BROOKS 3 Months later, the couple was surprised to find out they were expecting a little baby girl. So in the best interest of the child, On February 24, 1992, Kurt and Courtney tied the knot in Waikiki on a cliff. Despite the newly wedded couple, they also feared the safety of the baby, as Courtney had been using at the time. Despite the fears of Kurt and Courtney, on August 18,1992, a healthy Frances Bean was born. Kurt had been trying to kick his bad heroine addiction at the time, and could not be there for Frances like she needed. Claimed to be un-fit parents Kurt and Courtney lost custody of Frances. Eventually gaining custody back of Frances, lead to many more problems to come. Kurt and Courtney could not seem to gain an understanding of each other, as well as agreeing on Kurt giving up is heroine addiction. Kurt started going into a deep depression, loosing control and thinking suicidal thoughts. There was two main times Kurt tried to commit suicide and had failed. On April 8, 1994, Kurt was found with a lethal dose of heroine and a gunshot wound to the head in his Seattle home. Many believe Kurt had done in himself, as others believe maybe someone else had the intentions of killing Kurt Cobain. Many seem to point fingers at Courtney Love, saying she was after his money, or wanted him dead to take away her troubles. Courtney would get very aggravated and become some type of monster of revenge and hate. In thee end, no one really knows whether Kurt had taken his own life, or if it was his so called loving wife or some random person with an intent to kill. Kurt was an amazing and interesting man, a father, a talented artist, singer and an outstanding

4 songwriter. He left behind a loving little girl, Frances Bean, a caring wife and a legacy of his music.

Works Cited
1. Bio. Kurt Cobain-Biography on Bio. 2005-2011. 29 November 2013 <www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/kurt-cobain.html>. 2. Koskoff, Ellen. Music Cultures in the United States . Ed. Ellen Koskoff. New York: Routledge, 2005. 3. Kurt & Courtney . By Nick Broomfield. Dir. Nick Broomfield. Perf. Nick Broomfield, Courtney Love. Prod. Nick Broomfield. 1998. 4. Wallace, Ian Halperin and Max. Who Killed Kurt Cobain? The Mysterious Death of An Icon. Carol Publishing Group, 1998.

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