Hey kids, me again (surprise). Now I like to think I’m teaching you at least something on this blog but I decided to do this new history feature, Youth in Retrospect, just in case, so we can all ‘do a learn’ whilst (mainly) celebrating some major events in musical history.

Nirvana (noun): A transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death & rebirth. Often considered to be the final goal of Buddhism.

Now I won’t lie, I’m not a die-hard fan of Nirvana and never have been. If I’m completely honest, the grunge genre never appealed to me. Having said this, I can still understand the impact of Kurt Cobain’s loss on this fateful day 25 years ago (5^th April). It’s an interesting one, this, because Kurt Cobain has been dead for longer than I (and I’m sure, many of you) have been alive. Heck, in two years he will have been dead for longer than he was alive. It’s one of those thoughts on which if you dwell too long, you’ll end up down a rabbit hole that, quite frankly, you don’t want to be down.

Okay so let’s get the basics out of the way. Kurt Donald Cobain was born on 20^th February 1967 in Aberdeen, Washington, USA. He died on 5^th April 1994 in Seattle, Washington, USA by way of suicide. In 1985, Kurt met Krist Novoselic (Nirvana’s bass player) where they went on to play in several bands together, including Stiff Woodies. Nirvana was formed in December of 1987 however it wasn’t until September 1990 that Dave Grohl became their drummer, completing the line-up everyone knows and loves to this day.

After 4 months of dating, on 24^th February 1992, Cobain married Courtney Love whilst she was pregnant with what would be their only child – Frances Bean Cobain. A record executive once noted of Love and Cobain that they were “the nineties, much more talented version of Sid and Nancy”. However it would appear that the executive managed to foresee the future, also commenting that they would “self-destruct” if nothing happened. When they met, Nirvana were at their peak and Cobain never learned how to deal with the overnight fame that came from their album, Nevermind. It’s been said this was partially due to his poor upbringing, with him still choosing to drive a second hand car for the rest of his life. Nevermind was never meant to be so successful. Grunge was a subculture that started in the 1980s, largely in Seattle, however the album definitely influenced the popularity of it – which, as we all know, defeats the point of a subculture. The overnight success into alternate mainstream was something that Nirvana didn’t know how to deal with, and didn’t expect to have to learn.

Despite Nirvana’s popularity constantly being on the up, Kurt Cobain found himself in a serious spiral. This was causing his addiction to heroin to become more severe. The pair both tried to quit for the sake of their daughter however the story often went that only a few days after checking into rehab, they’d both be back out and searching for the next high. It wasn’t until February 1994 that Cobain’s spiral truly affected the band, with threats being made to cancel the European leg of the In Utero tour just five dates in. To add fuel to the already blazing fire, his relationships with both bandmates and his wife were rapidly deteriorating. On March 1^st, Nirvana’s final performance came to a swift end when Cobain announced they would not be continuing due to laryngitis. With a 10-day break on tour, he flew to Rome to be met by Love and their daughter a few days later. This was where he had his first suicide attempt. He would then go on to have three more before shooting himself at his home in Seattle on 5^th April.

Make no mistake though, Nirvana sure made sure to achieve a lot in the short space of time they had. They released 3 studio albums – Bleach in 1989 (pre-Grohl), Nevermind in 1991 and In Utero in 1993. They also released three live albums (one post-Cobain in 2009), two EPs and 21 singles. During their time, they were nominated for ten awards, winning five including ‘New Artist’ and ‘Alternate Video’ for Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom and Heart-Shaped Box.

There are many conspiracy theories surrounding both Kurt Cobain’s death and reasons for his behaviour throughout his 27 years. Out of respect for both him and those close to him, I don’t feel it right to go into these. There’s only one more certain thing to say and that’s that we lost a legend that day. Rest in peace, Kurt.