Paris—Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who defined grunge and the rise of alternative rock, would have turned 50 on Monday. He remains an enduring cultural presence even for many young people – but what would he be doing if he were alive?
The 27-year-old shot himself at his home in Seattle on April 5, 1994, ending his life, his suffering and, at least symbolically, the grunge movement. Rock has kept evolving since his suicide yet “Nevermind,” Nirvana’s brutal 1991 masterpiece, is still widely considered one of the most influential albums in history.
“He remains the most important musician of the last two decades in music, with an album that is still one of the last great rock records,” said Charles R. Cross, who has written three books on the artist including “Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain.”
To Cross, Cobain’s key contribution is opening the way for songwriters to tackle a wider emotional range. Nirvana’s songs included “Lithium,” a frank exploration of Cobain’s manic depression, and the searing “Rape Me.”
“His impact on songwriting was that he made it okay for songs to be about painful emotions, angst, depression – even something as awful as rape,” Cross said.
Nirvana was at the forefront of a boom in alternative rock, as mainstream audiences increasingly listened to Seattle grunge bands who also included Pearl Jam and Soundgarden – as well as hard-edged groups from elsewhere in the United States such as Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins.
But Cobain – with his ragged cardigan and thick blonde locks – may be better known for some younger fans for his look rather than Nirvana’s music, French music journalist Cuesta said.
“Kurt’s poster is in everyone’s bedroom like Che Guevara’s poster used to be, even if people don’t necessarily know much about Che’s political activities or Nirvana’s music,” he said.
Cobain – whose suicide note quoted Neil Young’s line that “it’s better to burn out than to fade away” – may have hated his contemporary image.
But what would Cobain have been like as a 50-year-old in 2017, an era when most artists feel obliged to promote themselves constantly on the internet and many make their music on laptops instead of in garages?
“I don’t think Nirvana would have been around long to begin with,” Cuesta said. “He said so at the time. His success was weighing heavily on him. He would have pursued a solo career different than what he was doing at the beginning.”
Cuesta said it was possible to imagine a 50-year-old Cobain with a diverse solo discography that, much like Neil Young’s, goes in both electric and acoustic directions. “It’s a bit of a fantasy, but I would imagine him aging well.”