Kurt Cobain by Julie Arenas

           

On April 5, 1994, rock legend, Kurt Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home days after fleeing a rehabilitation center in Los Angeles. The death of the 27 year old, lead singer of Nirvana, was the face of grunge music and devastated millions of fans all over the world. His death was ruled a suicide, but as time went on after Cobain’s death, several conspiracy theories developed:

1. Kurt Cobain committed suicide.
2. Kurt’s wife, Courtney Love, was behind his death and has hired someone to kill him.

Let’s take a closer look at Kurt Cobain and the conspiracy theories surrounding his death focusing on the possibility that Courtney Love had Kurt killed.

Character Analysis

            Who was Kurt Cobain? Picture a grungy, baggy clothed rock star: 27 years old, skinny, messy blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. As the lead singer and guitarist of the world-famous band, Nirvana, Cobain remains the face of grunge music to this day. It was no secret that Kurt was battling drug abuse throughout his time in the spotlight. With his love for heroin and his chaotic lifestyle, he fit the profile of a ‘troublesome’ rock legend.

            How did Kurt’s friends describe him? He was funny, kind, talented, but also had an emotional side. Dave Grohl, drummer of Nirvana, described Kurt positively in a Rolling Stone interview in 2005. Grohl said, “Kurt was so many different things. He was funny or shy or this outgoing, larger-than-life persona. He could be sweet or he could be fucking wicked.” (Scaggs). Carrie Montgomery, a friend of Cobain, mentioned, “made women want to nurture and protect him. He was a paradox in that way, because he also could be brutally and intensely strong, yet at the same time, he could appear fragile and delicate.” (Hiebert). Although the public eye saw Cobain as “depressed” because of the music he has written about negative thoughts, friends of Kurt said he was not depressed. Aaron Burckhard, the first drummer for Nirvana, said, “[Cobain] wasn’t always depressed. He was never depressed, he was always pulling pranks and funny stuff. Everybody portrays him as this depressed, hating life type of person.” (Luling).

            Aside from the glamorous rock and roll life style, Kurt Cobain had struggled with drug addiction. He had fit the stereotype of a “rebellious rock star”. Loved ones had tried interventions to help him, but internal conflict caused him to continue his decision to continue doing drugs. Cobain failed to seek help for himself.

            Kurt Cobain struggled with external conflict with his relationship with his wife, Courtney Love. According to Tom Grant, a private investigator hired by Love to find Kurt as he was missing, had reported that the couple had not been getting along and talked about divorce (Grant). Kurt lost the desire to perform and to continue touring and turned down a $9.5 million dollar contract to headline at Lollapalooza which had upset Courtney (1). The couple often argued about Kurt’s drug use even though Love was also involved with drugs at the time (1).  Their relationship and his loss of interest to continue performing had created turmoil in his life.

            To friends and loved ones, Kurt was intelligent, funny, talented, and kind. Although the public eye saw Cobain as “depressed” because of the music he has written about negative thoughts, friends of Kurt said he was not depressed. Aaron Burckhard, the first drummer for Nirvana, said, “[Cobain] wasn’t always depressed. He was never depressed, he was always pulling pranks and funny stuff. Everybody portrays him as this depressed, hating life type of person.” (Luling). Even though his case was ruled a suicide, many people do not believe Kurt Cobain had killed himself.

Conspiracy Theories

In the death of Kurt Cobain, two conspiracy theories developed. The first theory suggested that Kurt had killed himself. Even though his death was ruled a suicide, some people took a deeper look into it a developed another conspiracy theory: Courtney Love was behind Cobain’s death and had him killed.

The first conspiracy theory composes that Kurt was depressed and committed suicide. This theory is believed by many. With his famous depressive lyrics and songwriting, it made it easy to believe he had killed himself. Seven days after fleeing a rehab center in Marina Del Rey, California, Cobain’s body was found by an electrician who went to his home to install a security system (Cite). Police arrived at the residence and found Kurt locked inside in a room with a 38-caliber revolver, various pills, drugs, and a suicide note (cite). With a gunshot to the head and the items found at the scene, it was easy for the police to go ahead call it a suicide.

Although his death was officially ruled a suicide, others refused to believe it and dug deeper into the situation. The second conspiracy theory is that Courtney Love, wife of Kurt, had him killed. On April 3^rd 1994, Tom Grant, private investigator and former detective, was hired by Courtney Love to find her husband 2 days after he fled the rehab center in California (Grant). Even though Grant was working for Love, as a private investigator, it was his job to consider all the possibilities and clues leading to Kurt’s disappearance. Grant knew the couple were going through a divorce and that they were not on good terms, so he took in consideration that Love had something to do with the situation.

Throughout his investigation, he concluded several facts that lead to suggesting that Kurt did not kill himself:

1. Before Kurt left to rehab he had purchased a shotgun, not to shoot himself with, but for protection because he was in fear for his life. (1)
2. When Kurt’s body was discovered, investigators concluded that he’d already been dead for at least 2 days. During the time he was dead, but still not found, purchases were made on missing credit cards. (1)
3. The suicide note found at the scene had been examined by handwriting experts and was believed to be fake (1).
4. Cobain was injected with three times the lethal amount of heroin. If he had taken that much, how could he pick up a gun and shoot himself after? Why would he shoot himself if he already would’ve died from the overdose alone? (Soaked in Bleach)
   
   

Tom Grant is a firm believer that Kurt’s death was not a suicide to this day. His investigation had caught the public eye and many agree with him.

After a survey asking, “Was Courtney Love responsible for Kurt Cobains death?” about hlf answered no and the other half answered yes. The majority people who believe Love was responsible were under the age of 30 and the others were mostly over the age of 30. The younger population seemed to find it hard to accept that Kurt Cobain killed himself. His death was officially ruled a suicide by police but Grant and many others do not believe that was what happened and blame Courtney Love for having Kurt killed.

Conclusion

On April 5, 1994, legendary grunge rock star, Kurt Cobain was found dead in his home by an electrician who showed up to the residence to install a security system (Strauss).  His death broke the heart of millions of fans around the world. Since his death, two conspiracy theories developed.

1.      Kurt Cobain committed suicide.

2.      Kurt’s wife, Courtney Love, was behind his death and hired someone to kill him.

Although his death was ruled a suicide, many people still question believe there’s another explanation. Considering the information concluded about Courtney Love’s involvement with the situation, it is likely that she was behind it all.

Works Cited

  “44 Things You Didn’t Know About Kurt Cobain.” Flavorwire 44 Things You Didnt Know About Kurt Cobain Comments, 20 Feb. 2011, http://flavorwire.com/151637/44-things-you-didnt-know-about-kurt-cobain.

Grant, Tom. “Case Outline - The Kurt Cobain Murder Investigation by Tom Grant.” Case Outline – The Kurt Cobain Murder Investigation by Tom Grant, cobaincase.com/

Luling, Todd Van. “5 Never-Before-Heard Stories About Nirvana, As Told By The Band's First Drummer.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/20/nirvana-stories-from-aaron-burckhard_n_6705764.html

Scaggs, Austin. “Foo Fighters, On an Honor Roll: Rolling Stone's 2005 Feature.” Rolling Stone, http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/foo-fighters-on-an-honor-roll-rolling-stones-2005-feature-20110223.

Soaked in Bleach. Dir. Benjamin Statler. Perf. Tom Grant and Kurt Cobain. 2015. DVD.

Strauss, Neil. “Kurt Cobain's Downward Spiral: The Last Days of Nirvana's Leader.” Rolling Stone,www.rollingstone.com/music/news/kurt-cobains-downward-spiral-the-last-days-of-nirvanas-leader-19940602.