When Nirvana released “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the world experienced a cultural shift. The band, led by frontman Kurt Cobain, recorded arguably the best grunge music of all time, changing the pop music landscape for years to come. With its success came unprecedented fame, an experience Cobain had commented on just months before his death. “I still see stuff, descriptions of rock stars in some magazine — […] ‘Kurt Cobain, the whiny, complaining, neurotic, bitchy guy who hates everything, hates rock stardom, hates his life.’ And I’ve never been happier in my life […] I’m a much happier guy than a lot of people think I am,” he told Rolling Stone in an interview published on January 27, 1994.
On April 5, 1994, Cobain died by suicide, leaving behind his wife, Courtney Love, and his daughter. Prior to his death, Cobain suffered from chronic stomach pain, an affliction he treated himself through heroin use. Though he quit using heroin for a time just before his death, both that and Valium were in his system when he died. Cobain was found at his Seattle, Washington home with a note that quoted Neil Young’s song “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue). “Better to burn out than to fade away,” the heartbreaking note read. Cobain’s death was mourned by the entire world, and his tremendous musical legacy lives on today.
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If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
