Cobain Tribute: Subdued In Seattle Today Marks First Anniversary Of Troubled Singer’s Suicide
It’s been one year since the news of Kurt Cobain’s suicide made headlines around the world. But don’t expect to find any marathon tributes to Nirvana on Seattle’s leading alternative radio station.
“We just decided it wouldn’t be appropriate to celebrate or commemorate the day Kurt’s body was found,” says Marco Collins, music director for KNDD-FM. “We’d rather wait for an occasion that was more appropriate, like Kurt’s birthday. We don’t want to give this any more of the hype than it deserves.”
Look no further than the cover of Seattle’s leading music magazine.
The Rocket this month features a color portrait of a forlorn Cobain accompanied by the bold headline declaring the first anniversary of the rock star’s death “1 Year A.D.”
“We started to look at all the events of the past year and it began to paint the picture of a three-ring circus,” says editor Charles Cross, who wrote the headline that accompanied a lengthy retrospection. “We tried not to sensationalize it. We tried to examine the bizarre year since his death and break down the myth, but there’s a huge desire out there to perpetuate it.”
It was April 8, 1993 when police received a call from an electrician installing a security system at Cobain’s Seattle home alerting them o a body on the premises. Authorities said Cobain locked himself in his sunroom of an adjoining apartment and killed himself with a shotgun blast to the head two to three days before he was discovered.
Cobain’s death cut short a career that pioneered an entire musical genre, known then as “grunge” and referred to now as alternative. His song lyrics were poetry, brooding and self-obsessed, while his guitar screamed unpredictably over his tortured wails.
Nirvana revitalized rock music in early 1991 with the release of their multi-platinum “Nevermind” followed by the brilliant “In Utero” in 1993. After Cobain’s suicide, Nirvana released their live “Unplugged” set from their MTV performance which sold three million copies. All three albums are still on the Billboard Top 200 album chart with combined sales of 14 million.
Cobain’s close family, including his widow Courtney Love who fronts the acclaimed alternative band Hole, have refused to speak publicly about the anniversary. As have his record company, management and bandmates.
Outside the house where Cobain ended his life - the same one he shared with Love and 3-year-old daughter Frances Bean - fans have started to congregate in a nearby park, paying their respects to the enigmatic singer-songwriter.
“It’s like my way of saying goodbye and letting him know how his music touched me,” said Tara Williams, 19, who traveled to Seattle from Portland. “It’s a sad occasion.”
But the city has no memorials planned and outside a few pilgrimages, it looks like most of the mourning in Seattle will be done privately.
In Chicago, however, alternative rock radio station WKQX-FM will hold a commercial-free telethon tonight to raise money for suicide prevention and research while another rock station will host a twohour talk show.
In Harwich, Mass., nine middle school students threatened or attempted suicide during the past week, apparently in an effort to pay homage to Cobain. Teachers and parents of students at Harwich Middle School gathered at Wednesday night to hear a panel of child psychology experts explain what can be done to prevent such incidents.
There is a chance that other distraught fans may try to emulate the rock star’s suicide, said Beverly Cobain, a cousin who is a psychiatric nurse.
“There is such a thing as an anniversary phenomenon,” Cobain said.