Today, Nirvana’s fans are remembering Kurt Cobain, the band’s late singer and guitarist, on what would have been his 53rd Birthday. Kurt Cobains life was cut too short when he passed away from suicide. But even at the young age of 27, he left a legacy that impacts all music lovers. Many fans are honoring his life by sharing their favorite moments from his life. Here are some of our favorite Kurt Cobain moments:
1. Nirvana’s Unplugged Performance
Nirvana single handedly changed the music scene overnight. Even if Cobain might’ve wanted fame before the success of their album “Nevermind,” he eventually began to feel suffocated by stardom, and became noticeably aggravated. During his iconic MTV Unplugged music performance, he turned his bitterness, despair, and rage, and arranged the songs into “one of the greatest live albums ever.” Nirvana played lesser-known covers of songs by the Vaselines, David Bowie, Lead Belly, and Meat Puppets. This performance became the first album the band released after the death of Cobain, and ultimately became the most popular Nirvana album to date. Kurt Cobain’s MTV Unplugged cardigan is also marked as the most expensive sweater sold.
2. Nirvana’s Famous SNL Moment
1992 was an iconic year for Nirvana. The band famously knocked Micheal Jackson’s Dangerous off the top music charts with their new album Nevermind. Later that week, at the end of their Saturday Night Live set, Nirvana returned during the ending credits, and Kurt, Krist, and Dave french kissed. It probably didn’t come as a shock for most, the band memebers were known to be passionate advocates for gay rights.
3. Kurt Cobain Wears Gown During Headbanger’s Ball Interview
Less than a month later, Cobain and Novoselic appeared on MTV’s flagship metal show, “Headbangers Ball,” wearing a canary-yellow ball gown. Cobain famously quoted “It’s Headbangers Ball, so I thought I’d wear a gown.” 25 years later, the interview is still not forgotten. Check out their legendary interview below.
4. Nirvana at the 1992 VMAs
Later that year, Nirvana made a not-so-easy appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards. The band played “Lithium” at the ceremony as a compromise, after being threatened to be removed from the performance schedule for their unwillingness to play “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Of course, the band always liked to joke around. During the beginning of their performance, Cobain strummed the first few chords of the “Rape Me,” “just to give MTV a little heart palpitation.”
5. Kurt’s Wheelchair Moment at Reading Festival
The August of 1992, when Nirvana headlined the Reading Festival, there were rumors swirling in the media that the frontman was “unwell.” To no surprise, Cobain was jokingly pushed on stage in a wheelchair in a hospital gown, and blonde wig. He then stood up, attempted to sing a line from “Bette Midler’s The Rose,” and collapsed on the ground. Nirvana then went on to play a highly-acclaimed set. Kurt Cobain later said in an interview,“We rehearsed once, the night before, and it wasn’t good. I really thought, ‘This will be a disaster, this will be the end of our career for sure.’ And then it turned out to be a wonderful show, and it healed us for a little while.”
6. Kurt Cobain Stops a Sexual Assault
Kurt Cobain was a well known supporter of social equality. He never had any tolerance for hate, including racists, homophobes, or misogynists. In an interview he once stated “If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of color, or women, please, do this one favor for us, don’t come to our shows & don’t buy our records” At one concert on his Utero tour, he even heroically saved a woman from being sexually assaulted by intervening when he saw a woman getting groped.
7. The Lost Songs of Kurt Cobain
Cobain left behind 109 unreleased, unrecorded songs when he died, according to his ex-wife Courtney Love. Some of the songs were just music fragments or “collages,” but Love mentioned that there are five to eight acoustic numbers that are solidly good enough to be released to the public. “You Know You’re Right,” was actually one of the taped songs that was released as the first single on the greatest-hits package.
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