Kurt Cobain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kurt Cobain |
Kurt Cobain performing in 1993 |
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Kurt Donald Cobain |
| Also known as |
Kurdt Kobain |
| Born |
February 20, 1967
Aberdeen, Washington, U.S. |
| Died |
April 5, 1994 (aged 27)
Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Genres |
Alternative rock, grunge |
| Occupations |
Musician, songwriter, artist |
| Instruments |
Vocals, guitar, drums |
| Years active |
1982–1994 |
| Labels |
Sub Pop, DGC/Geffen |
| Associated acts |
Nirvana, Fecal Matter |
| Notable instruments |
Fender Jag-Stang
Fender Jaguar
Fender Mustang
Fender Stratocaster
Martin D-18E
Univox Hi-Flier[1]
Mosrite "The Ventures" Guitar |
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994)
[2][3] was an American
musician and
artist, best known as the
lead singer,
guitarist and primary
songwriter of the
grunge band
Nirvana. Cobain formed Nirvana with
Krist Novoselic in
Aberdeen, Washington in 1985 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene, having its debut album
Bleach released on the independent record label
Sub Pop in 1989.
After signing with major label
DGC Records, the band found breakthrough success with "
Smells Like Teen Spirit" from its second album
Nevermind (1991). Following the success of
Nevermind, Nirvana was labeled "the flagship band" of
Generation X, and Cobain hailed as "the spokesman of a generation".
[4]
Cobain, however, was often uncomfortable and frustrated, believing his
message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public,
with his personal issues often subject to media attention. He challenged
Nirvana's audience with its final studio album
In Utero (1993).
During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with
heroin addiction,
illness and depression. He also had difficulty coping with his fame and
public image, and the professional and lifelong personal pressures
surrounding himself and his wife, musician
Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in
Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a
suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances of
his death at age 27
have become a topic of public fascination and debate. Since their
debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, has sold over 25 million
albums in the U.S., and over 50 million worldwide.
[5][6]
Early life
Kurt Donald Cobain was born on February 20, 1967, at Grays Harbor Hospital in
Aberdeen, Washington,
[7] to a waitress, Wendy Elizabeth (née Fradenburg) (born 1948),
[8] and an automotive mechanic, Donald Leland Cobain (born 1946). His parents were married on July 31, 1965 in
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. His ancestry included
Irish, English, Scottish, and
German.
[9][10][11] Cobain's Irish ancestors migrated from
County Tyrone of Northern Ireland in 1875.
[11] Researchers have found them to have been shoemakers, originally named Cobane, who came from the village of Inishatieve near
Pomeroy, settling in
Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, and then in Washington.
[12] Cobain had one younger sister named Kimberly, born on April 24, 1970.
[8][10]
Cobain's family had a musical background. His maternal uncle Chuck
Fradenburg starred in a band called The Beachcombers, his Aunt Mari
Earle played guitar and performed in bands throughout
Grays Harbor County, and his great-uncle Delbert had a career as an Irish tenor; making an appearance in the 1930 film
King of Jazz.
Cobain was described as being a happy and excitable, while sensitive
and caring child. His talent as an artist was evident from an early age.
His bedroom was described as having taken on the appearance of an art
studio,
[7] where he would accurately draw his favorite characters from films and cartoons such as
Aquaman, the
Creature from the Black Lagoon, and
Disney characters like
Donald Duck,
Mickey Mouse and
Pluto.
[13]
This enthusiasm was encouraged by his grandmother Iris Cobain, who was a
professional artist herself. Cobain began developing an interest in
music early in his life. According to his Aunt Mari, he began singing at
two years old. At age four, Cobain started playing the piano and
singing, writing a song about their trip to a local park. He listened to
artists like the
Ramones[14] and would sing songs like
Arlo Guthrie's "Motorcycle Song,"
The Beatles' "
Hey Jude",
Terry Jacks' "
Seasons in the Sun" and the theme song to
The Monkees television show at a young age.
[15]
When Cobain was seven years old, his parents divorced.
[16]
Later in his life, he said the divorce had a profound effect on his
life. His mother noted that his personality changed dramatically; Cobain
became defiant and withdrawn.
[17] In a 1993 interview, he elaborated:
"I remember feeling ashamed, for some reason. I was ashamed of my
parents. I couldn't face some of my friends at school anymore, because I
desperately wanted to have the classic, you know, typical family.
Mother, father. I wanted that security, so I resented my parents for
quite a few years because of that."[18]
Cobain's parents both found new partners after the divorce. His
father had promised not to remarry; however, after meeting Jenny
Westeby, he did, to Kurt's dismay.
[19]
Kurt, his father, Westeby, and her two children Mindy and James, moved
into a new household together. Cobain liked Westeby at first, who gave
him the maternal attention he desired.
[19][20] In January 1979, Westeby gave birth to a boy, Chad Cobain.
[19]
This new family, which Cobain insisted was not his real one, was in
stark contrast to the attention Cobain was used to receiving as an only
boy; he soon began to express resentment toward his stepmother.
[19][20] Kurt's mother began dating a man who was abusive. Cobain witnessed the
domestic violence inflicted upon her, with one incident resulting in her being hospitalized with a broken arm.
[20][21] Wendy steadfastly refused to press charges, remaining completely committed to the relationship.
[21]
Kurt behaved insolently toward adults. He began bullying another boy
at school. These behaviours eventually caused his father and Westeby to
take him to a therapist, who concluded that Kurt would benefit in a
single family environment.
[21]
Both sides of the family attempted to bring his parents back together,
but to no avail. On June 28, 1979, Cobain's mother granted full custody
of Kurt to his father.
[22]
Cobain's teenage rebellion quickly became overwhelming for his
father, who placed Kurt in the care of family and friends. While living
with the
born-again Christian
family of his friend Jesse Reed, Cobain became a devout Christian and
regularly attended church services. Cobain later renounced Christianity,
engaging in what would be described as "anti-God" rants. The song "
Lithium"
is about his experience while living with the Reed family. Religion
would remain an important part in Cobain's personal life and beliefs, as
he often used Christian imagery in his work and maintained a constant
interest in
Jainism and
Buddhist philosophy. The band name
Nirvana was taken from the
Buddhist concept, which Cobain described as "freedom from pain, suffering and the external world," which paralleled with the
punk rock ethic and
ideology.
Cobain would regard himself as both a Buddhist and a Jain during
different points of his life, educating himself about the philosophies
through various sources, including through watching late night
television documentaries on both subjects.
[23][24][25]
Although not interested in sports, Kurt was enrolled in a junior high school
wrestling
team at the insistence of his father. Kurt was a skilled wrestler, yet
despised the experience. Because of the ridicule he endured from his
teammates and coach, he allowed himself to be pinned, in an attempt to
sadden his father. Later, his father enlisted him in a
little league baseball team, where Cobain would intentionally strike out to avoid playing on the team.
[26]
Cobain befriended a homosexual student at school, and suffered
bullying from heterosexual students who concluded that Cobain was gay.
In an interview he said that he liked having the identity of being gay
because he did not like people and when they thought he was gay they
left him alone. Kurt stated, "I started being really proud of the fact
that I was gay even though I wasn't". His friend tried to kiss him and
Kurt backed away and told his friend he was not gay but would still be
friends with him. In a 1993 interview with
The Advocate, Cobain claimed that he was "gay in spirit" and "probably could be
bisexual."
He also stated that he used to spray paint "God Is Gay" on pickup
trucks in the Aberdeen area. However, Aberdeen police records show that
the phrase for which he was arrested was actually "Ain't got no how
watchamacallit".
[27] One of his personal journals states, "I am not gay, although I wish I were, just to piss off homophobes."
[28]
Cobain enjoyed creating works of art. He would often draw during school classes, including objects associated with
human anatomy. When given a caricature assignment for an art course, Cobain drew a posing
Michael Jackson.
When his art teacher told him the caricature would be inappropriate to
be displayed in a school hallway, Cobain drew an unflattering sketch of
then-President
Ronald Reagan.
[29]
As attested to by numerous of Cobain's classmates and family members, the first concert he attended was
Sammy Hagar and
Quarterflash at the
Seattle Center Coliseum in 1983.
[7][30] Cobain, however, claimed that the first concert he attended was the
Melvins; he wrote prolifically in his
Journals of the experience.
[31] As a teenager living in
Montesano, Cobain eventually found escape through the thriving
Pacific Northwest
punk scene, going to punk rock shows in Seattle. Cobain soon began
frequenting the practice space of fellow Montesano musicians the
Melvins.
During his sophomore year in high school, Cobain began living with
his mother in Aberdeen. Two weeks prior to graduation, he dropped out of
Aberdeen High School
upon realizing he did not have enough credits to graduate. His mother
gave him a choice: find employment or leave. After one week, Cobain
found his clothes and other belongings packed away in boxes.
[32] Feeling banished from his own mother's home, Cobain stayed with friends, occasionally sneaking back into his mother's basement.
[33] Cobain also claimed during periods of homelessness to have lived under a bridge over the
Wishkah River,
[33] an experience that inspired the
Nevermind track "
Something in the Way". However, Nirvana bassist
Krist Novoselic
said, "He hung out there, but you couldn't live on those muddy banks,
with the tides coming up and down. That was his own revisionism."
[34]
In late 1986 Cobain moved into an apartment, paying his rent by working at a
Polynesian coastal resort approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of Aberdeen.
[35] During this period, he was traveling frequently to
Olympia, Washington to go to rock concerts.
[36]
During his visits to Olympia, Cobain formed a relationship with Tracy
Marander. The couple had a close relationship, but one that was often
strained with financial difficulties and Cobain's absence when touring.
Marander supported the couple by working at the cafeteria of the
Seattle–Tacoma International Airport,
often stealing food. Cobain spent most of his time sleeping into the
late evening, watching television and concentrating on art projects.
Marander's insistence that he get a job caused arguments that influenced
Cobain to write "
About a Girl", which was featured on the Nirvana album
Bleach.
Marander is credited with having taken the cover photo for the album.
Marander was not aware that "About a Girl" was written about her until
years after Cobain's death.
[37][38][39][40][41][42]
Soon after Marander separated from him, Cobain began dating
Tobi Vail, an influential
DIY punk zinester of the
riot grrrl band
Bikini Kill.
After meeting Vail, Cobain vomited as he was so completely overwhelmed
with anxiety regarding his infatuation with her. This event would
inspire the lyric: "Love you so much it makes me sick," which would
appear in the song "
Aneurysm".
[43]
While Cobain would regard Vail as his female counterpart, his
relationship with her waned. Cobain desired the maternal comfort of a
traditional relationship, which Vail regarded as sexist within a
countercultural punk rock community. Those who dated Vail would be described by her friend Alice Wheeler as "fashion accessories."
[44]
Kurt and Tobi spent most of their time together as a couple discussing
political and philosophical issues. Cobain's relationship with Vail
would inspire the lyrical content of many of the songs on
Nevermind. Once, while discussing
anarchism and punk rock with friend
Kathleen Hanna, Hanna spray-painted "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit" on Kurt's apartment wall.
Teen Spirit
was the name of a deodorant Vail wore; Hanna joked that Cobain smelled
like it. Cobain, unaware of this, initially interpreted the slogan as
having a revolutionary meaning. The slogan inspired the title to the
song "
Smells Like Teen Spirit".
Nirvana
Main article:
Nirvana (band)
Cobain had his 14th birthday on February 20, 1981. His uncle offered him
either a bike or a used guitar. He chose the guitar. Soon, he was
mastering
Stairway to Heaven. Cobain began learning guitar with a few covers, including "
Louie Louie",
The Cars' "
My Best Friend's Girl", and "
Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" and soon began working on his own songs.
[25][not in citation given]
During high school, Cobain rarely found anyone with whom he could play
music. While hanging out at the Melvins' practice space, he met
Krist Novoselic,
a fellow devotee of punk rock. Novoselic's mother owned a hair salon.
Cobain and Novoselic would occasionally practice in the upstairs room of
the salon. A few years later, Cobain tried to convince Novoselic to
form a band with him by lending him a copy of a
home demo recorded by Cobain's earlier band,
Fecal Matter. After months of asking, Novoselic finally agreed to join Cobain, forming the beginnings of Nirvana.
[45]
Cobain was disenchanted after early touring, due to the band's
inability to draw substantial crowds and the apparent difficulty in
sustaining themselves. During their first few years playing together,
Novoselic and Cobain were hosts to a rotating list of drummers.
Eventually, the band settled on
Chad Channing, with whom Nirvana recorded the album
Bleach, released on
Sub Pop Records
in 1989. Cobain, however, became dissatisfied with Channing's style,
leading the band to find a new drummer, eventually settling on
Dave Grohl. With Grohl, the band found their greatest success via their 1991 major-label debut,
Nevermind.
With the lead single "
Smells Like Teen Spirit" from Nirvana's second album
Nevermind (1991), Nirvana entered the mainstream, popularizing a subgenre of
alternative rock called
grunge.
Since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, have sold over
25 million albums in the United States alone, and over 50 million
worldwide.
[5][6]
Cobain
(right) with Nirvana in 1992
The success of
Nevermind provided numerous Seattle bands such as
Alice in Chains,
Pearl Jam, and
Soundgarden
to wider audiences, and as a result, alternative rock became a dominant
genre on radio and music television in the United States during the
early-to-middle 1990s. Nirvana was considered the "flagship band of
Generation X", and frontman Cobain found himself reluctantly anointed by the media as the generation's "spokesman."
[4]
Cobain's discomfort with the media attention prompted him to focus on
the band's music and, believing their message and artistic vision to
have been misinterpreted by the public, challenged the band's audience
with its third studio album
In Utero (1993).
Cobain struggled to reconcile the massive success of Nirvana to his
underground roots. He also felt persecuted by the media, comparing himself to
Frances Farmer.
He began to harbour resentments for people who claimed to be fans of
the band yet refused to acknowledge, or misinterpreted, the band's
social and political views. A vocal opponent of sexism, racism and
homophobia, he was publicly proud that Nirvana had played at a
gay rights benefit supporting No-on-Nine in Oregon in 1992, in opposition to
Ballot Measure Nine,
a ballot measure, that if passed, would have prohibited schools in the
state from acknowledging or positively accepting LGBT rights and
welfare.
Cobain was a vocal supporter of the
pro-choice movement, and had been involved in
Rock for Choice from the campaign inception by
L7. He received
death threats from a small number of
anti-abortion activists for doing so, with one activist threatening Cobain that he would be shot as soon as he stepped on stage.
[46] The liner notes from
Incesticide
declared "if any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of
different color, or women, please do this one favor for us-leave us the
fuck alone! Don't come to our shows and don't buy our records". An
article from his posthumously released
Journals declares that social liberation could be made possible only through the eradication of sexism.
Musical influences
The Beatles were an early and lasting influence on Cobain; his aunt Mari remembers him singing "
Hey Jude" at the age of two.
[15] "My aunts would give me Beatles records," Cobain told
Jon Savage in 1993, "so for the most part [I listened to] the Beatles [as a child], and if I was lucky, I'd be able to buy a single."
[18] Cobain expressed a particular fondness for
John Lennon, whom he called his "idol" in his posthumously-released
journals,
[28] and he admitted that he wrote the song "
About a Girl," from Nirvana 1989 debut album
Bleach, after spending three hours listening to
Meet The Beatles!.[47]
Cobain was also a fan of
classic rock bands, including
Led Zeppelin,
AC/DC,
Black Sabbath,
Aerosmith,
Queen, and
Kiss. Nirvana occasionally played cover songs by these bands, including Led Zeppelin's "
Immigrant Song", "
Dazed and Confused" and "
Heartbreaker", Black Sabbath's "
Hand of Doom," and Kiss' "Do You Love Me?", and wrote the
Incesticide song "Aero Zeppelin" as a tribute to Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith.
Punk rock proved to be a profound influence on a teenaged Cobain's attitude and artistic style. His first punk rock album was
Sandinista! by
The Clash,
[48] but he became a bigger fan of a fellow 1970s British punk band the
Sex Pistols, describing them as "one million times more important than the Clash" in his journals.
[28] He was introduced to 1980s American hardcore bands like
Black Flag,
Bad Brains,
Millions of Dead Cops and
Flipper by
Buzz Osbourne, lead singer and guitarist of
the Melvins and fellow
Aberdeen, Washington native. The Melvins themselves were an important early musical influence on Cobain, with their heavy,
grungy sound mimicked by Nirvana on many songs from
Bleach.
Cobain was also a fan of
protopunk acts like
the Stooges, whose 1973 album
Raw Power he listed as his favorite of all time in his journals,
[28] and
The Velvet Underground, whose 1968 song "
Here She Comes Now" the band covered both live and in the studio.
The 1980s American
alternative rock band
Pixies were instrumental in helping an adult Cobain develop his own songwriting style. In a 1992 interview with
Melody Maker, Cobain said that hearing their 1988 debut album,
Surfer Rosa, "convinced him to abandon his more Black Flag-influenced songwriting in favor of the
Iggy Pop/Aerosmith–type songwriting that appeared on
Nevermind.
[49] In a 1993 interview with
Rolling Stone, he said that "
Smells Like Teen Spirit"
was his attempt at "trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it.
When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band
so heavily that I should have been in that band—or at least a Pixies
cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and
then loud and hard."
[50]
Cobain's appreciation of early alternative rock bands also extended to
Sonic Youth and
R.E.M., both of which the members of Nirvana befriended and looked up to for advice. It was under recommendation from Sonic Youth's
Kim Gordon that Nirvana signed to
DGC in 1990,
[51] and both bands did a two week tour of Europe in the summer of 1991, as documented in the 1992 documentary,
1991: The Year Punk Broke.
In 1993, Cobain said of R.E.M.: "If I could write just a couple of
songs as good as what they’ve written … I don’t know how that band does
what they do. God, they’re the greatest. They’ve dealt with their
success like saints, and they keep delivering great music."
[50]
After attaining mainstream success, Cobain became a devoted champion of lesser known
indie bands, covering songs by the
Vaselines,
Meat Puppets,
Wipers and
Fang onstage and/ or in the studio, wearing
Daniel Johnston T-shirts during photo shoots, having the
K Records logo tattooed on his forearm, and enlisting bands like
Butthole Surfers,
Shonen Knife,
Chokebore and
Half Japanese along for the
In Utero tour in late 1993 and early 1994. Cobain even invited his favorite musicians to perform with him: ex-
Germs guitarist
Pat Smear joined the band in 1993, and the Meat Puppets appeared onstage during Nirvana's 1993
MTV Unplugged appearance to perform three songs from their second album,
Meat Puppets II.
Nirvana's
Unplugged set also included renditions of "
The Man Who Sold the World," by British rock musician
David Bowie, and the American folk song, "
Where Did You Sleep Last Night," as adapted by the American folk musician,
Lead Belly.
Cobain introduced the latter by calling Lead Belly his favorite
performer, and in a 1993 interview revealed he had been introduced to
him from reading the American author,
William S. Burroughs.
"I remember [Burroughs] saying in an interview, “These new rock’n'roll
kids should just throw away their guitars and listen to something with
real soul, like Leadbelly,'" Cobain said. "I’d never heard about
Leadbelly before so I bought a couple of records, and now he turns out
to be my absolute favorite of all time in music. I absolutely love it
more than any rock’n'roll I ever heard."
[52]
Nirvana's acoustic
Unplugged set, which was released posthumously as
an album
in 1994, may have provided a hint of Cobain's future musical direction.
The record has drawn comparisons to R.E.M.'s 1992 release,
Automatic for the People,
[53]
and in 1993, Cobain himself predicted that the next Nirvana album would
be "pretty ethereal, acoustic, like R.E.M.'s last album."
[50]
"Yeah, he talked a lot about what direction he was heading in," Cobain's friend, R.E.M.'s lead singer
Michael Stipe, told
Newsweek
in 1994. "I mean, I know what the next Nirvana recording was going to
sound like. It was going to be very quiet and acoustic, with lots of
stringed instruments. It was going to be an amazing fucking record, and
I’m a little bit angry at him for killing himself. He and I were going
to record a trial run of the album, a demo tape. It was all set up. He
had a plane ticket. He had a car picking him up. And at the last minute
he called and said, 'I can't come.' Stipe was chosen as the godfather of
Cobain and
Courtney Love's daughter,
Frances Bean Cobain."
[54]
Artistry
Dave Grohl stated that Cobain believed that music comes first and
lyrics, second. Cobain focused, foremost, on the melodies of his songs.
[55]
Cobain complained when fans and rock journalists attempted to decipher
his singing and extract meaning from his lyrics, writing "Why in the
hell do journalists insist on coming up with a second-rate
Freudian evaluation of my lyrics, when 90 percent of the time they've transcribed them incorrectly?"
[56]
While Cobain would insist on the subjectivity and unimportance of his
lyrics, he was known to labor and procrastinate in writing them, often
changing the content and order of lyrics during performances.
[57]
Cobain would describe his lyrics himself as "a big pile of
contradictions. They're split down the middle between very sincere
opinions that I have and sarcastic opinions and feelings that I have and
sarcastic and hopeful, humorous rebuttals toward cliché
bohemian ideals that have been exhausted for years."
[58]
Cobain originally wanted
Nevermind to be divided into two
sides: a "Boy" side, for the songs written about the experiences of his
early life and childhood, and a "Girl" side, for the songs written about
his dysfunctional relationship with Tobi Vail.
[57]
Charles R. Cross would write "In the four months following their
break-up, Kurt would write a half dozen of his most memorable songs, all
of them about Tobi Vail". Though "Lithium" had been written before
Cobain knew Vail, the lyrics of the song were changed to reference her.
[59] Cobain would say in an interview with
Musician
that "some of my very personal experiences, like breaking up with
girlfriends and having bad relationships, feeling that death void that
the person in the song is feeling. Very lonely, sick."
[60] While Cobain would regard
In Utero "for the most part very impersonal",
[61]
on the album he dealt with the childhood divorce of his parents, his
newfound fame and the public image and perception of himself and
Courtney Love
on "Serve the Servants", with his enamored relationship with Love
conveyed through lyrical themes of pregnancy and the female anatomy on "
Heart-Shaped Box". Cobain wrote "
Rape Me"
not only as an objective discussion of rape, but a metaphorical protest
against his treatment by the media. He wrote about fame, drug addiction
and abortion on "
Pennyroyal Tea", as well as women's rights and the life of Seattle-born
Frances Farmer on "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle".
Cobain was affected enough to write the song "
Polly" from
Nevermind, after reading a newspaper story of an incident in 1987, where a young girl was kidnapped after attending a punk rock show
[who?], then raped and tortured with a
blowtorch. She managed to escape after gaining the trust of her captor through flirting with him.
[62] After seeing Nirvana perform,
Bob Dylan would cite "Polly" as the best of Nirvana's songs, and was quoted as saying about Cobain, "the kid has heart".
[63] Patrick Süskind, whose novel
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer inspired Cobain to write the song "Scentless Apprentice" from
In Utero. The book is an historical horror novel about a
perfumer's
apprentice born with no body odor of his own but with a highly
developed sense of smell, and who attempts to create the "ultimate
perfume" by killing virginal women and taking their scent.
[64]
Cobain immersed himself in artistic projects throughout his life, as
much so as he did in songwriting. The sentiments of his art work
followed the same subjects of his lyrics, often expressed through a dark
and macabre sense of humor. Noted was his fascination with
physiology,
his own rare medical conditions, and the human anatomy. Often unable to
afford artistic resources, Cobain would improvise with materials,
painting on board games and album sleeves, and painting with an array of
substances, including his own bodily fluids. The artwork seen in his
Journals
would later draw acclaim as being of a high artistic standard. Many of
Cobain's paintings, collages, and sculptures would appear in the artwork
of Nirvana's albums. His artistic concepts would feature notably in
Nirvana's music videos; the production and direction of which were
acrimonious due to the artistic perfectionism of his visions.
Cobain would contribute backing guitar for a
spoken word recording of beat poet
William S. Burroughs' entitled "
the "Priest" they called him".
[65] Cobain regarded Burroughs as a hero. During Nirvana's European tour Cobain kept a copy of Burroughs'
Naked Lunch, purchased in a London bookstall.
[66]
Relationships and family
