Drugs since the age of 13, a high-profile scandal on MTV, and a terrible suicide. What tragedies were hidden behind the fame of Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain

He was adored by millions, but he found life unbearable. His name is still known all over the world, and his hits remain iconic, but this did not save him from suicide (according to the official version). Kurt Cobain was the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the legendary rock band Nirvana. On February 20 of this year, he would have turned 57, but the life of the idol of millions ended in 1994, when the musician was only 27.

Kurt Cobain remained an icon of the era after his death. His life was shrouded in secrets, scandals and tragedies. We will tell you about them in the OBOZ.UA article on the occasion of the rock music legend's birthday.

Mental disorders and drugs since the age of 13: how it all started

It's no secret that Kurt suffered from severe drug addiction. He repeatedly underwent detoxification, lay in rehab, but was never able to get rid of his addiction to illegal substances, which he first met in childhood.

Cobain was born into a rather creative family. His close relatives were involved in music, so at the age of two, the little boy with snow-white hair was already charming his first listeners with The Beatles' tracks, and at four, he wrote his first song. However, after his parents divorced, Kurt's carefree childhood came to an end. He was 9, and he could not accept the fact that he no longer had a "normal family."

He no longer composed cheerful songs, but instead wrote creepy and gloomy lyrics. They decided to take the boy to the doctor. At first, Kurt was diagnosed with "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder," and later with bipolar affective disorder and manic-depressive psychosis. The angel with snow-white curls became the embodiment of pure evil.

Discussing the musician's biography and tragic end with journalists, Kurt's cousin Beverly drew special attention to the fact that alcoholism and mental illness were widespread in Cobain's family. Two of his paternal uncles, for example, committed suicide, and one of them chose the same method of suicide as his nephew - a shot in the head.

Due to difficult relations with his family, Kurt was constantly wandering and even lived under the bridge of the Uyshka River for some time. All these circumstances led to the fact that at the age of 13, the young musician tried drugs for the first time. It was marijuana. Since then, drugs have become Cobain's constant companion in life.

Then came experiments with LSD and other hallucinogens, and at about 19, the singer tried heroin for the first time. In a few years, he developed a strong addiction to this drug. He used it every day and so much that it was no longer possible to ignore it - the rocker could pass out in the middle of an important Nirvana shoot and simply could not control himself.

A chance for salvation in the form of a child and a fateful interview

Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love loved each other. The musician once said: "I wanted to be a bachelor for another year, but I realized that I was actually crazy about Courtney, and it was hard to stay away from her for so many months." The lovers got married at the end of February 1992, and six months later they had a daughter, Frances Bean Cobain.

When Kurt found out he was going to be a father, he finally tried to quit drugs. Both he and Courtney went to rehab. It seems that for the first time in his life, the musician felt truly loved and needed. But this happiness did not last long. Shortly before the birth of her daughter, Courtney Love gave an infamous interview in which she revealed that she had used heroin in the first months of pregnancy, when she did not yet know about her special condition. The girl's words were heavily distorted and presented as if she had used drugs knowing about the child inside her. All of this led to the child welfare authorities opening a case against Kurt and Courtney to terminate their parental rights.

Then the musician stood up for his daughter. But the child was unable to heal all the mental traumas and disorders of her star father. Cobain began to suffer from depression and eventually realized that he could not do without drugs.

The MTV scandal

On September 9, 1992, Nirvana performed at the annual MTV Music Awards, and this performance is remembered as one of the most scandalous in music history. Kurt Cobain was in a rehabilitation center at the time. He was offered to sign a document that would allow him to leave the hospital for a day to take part in the ceremony - Nirvana was nominated for four awards at once.

The frontman of the rock band, who looked like an angel at the time, immediately made a statement that he was going to sing the song Rape Me, the title of which translates to "rape me," at the ceremony. The organizers categorically disagreed, and a conflict escalated. Cobain said that if he was not allowed to sing this track, he would not perform at all.

In the end, Nirvana took the stage. Despite the total ban, the audience heard the melody of Rape Me and the first lyrics from the track. However, as it turned out, Cobain only wanted to tease the annoying organizers. A few seconds later, the rockers began to perform the planned song Lithium.

It was a terrible stress for the organizers and an equally terrible pleasure for the rock band's frontman.

However, the bacchanalia on stage, full of eccentric antics of the artists, was just beginning. First, the bassist Krist Novoselic threw his guitar in the air, but failed to catch it, and the instrument hit him in the forehead. The musician staggered off the stage and found out backstage that he had suffered a concussion. Kurt Cobain, meanwhile, was throwing the microphone and trying to put his guitar somewhere else, so he started swinging it randomly in an attempt to smash something.

That night, Nirvana won the award for the best alternative music video for the song Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Tragic death: suicide or murder

There are still many rumors surrounding Kurt Cobain's death. It is known that on April 5, 1994, shortly after he escaped from a rehabilitation center, the musician injected himself with a dose of heroin incompatible with life and shot himself in the head with a gun. He left a suicide note, although some journalists and detectives would later conclude that it was not a suicide note at all, and that the star's suicide was not a suicide at all. The version of the singer's premeditated murder is still being considered.

One of the arguments used by private investigator Tom Grant to prove the murder case was the fingerprints on the gun, or rather, the absence of fingerprints. No fingerprints: neither of the alleged killer nor of Kurt, who allegedly shot himself. In addition, the dose of heroin in the celebrity's blood, as shown by the examination, was three times higher than the lethal dose. After one lethal dose, a person falls into a coma within seconds. If Cobain had injected himself with three such doses, he would hardly have had time to clean up the syringes around him, take a gun and make a shot.

Also, after the examination, no traces were found on the singer's hands that would confirm that he had loaded the gun or fired it: microparticles of technical grease, gunpowder, etc. This fact was not added to the official investigation documents.

A suicide note and a separate appeal to Courtney Love

I would like to talk about Kurt Cobain's suicide note separately. As you know, it read: "Courtney, don't stop - for Frances' sake, for her life, which will be much happier without me, I love you." Adherents of the murder theory believe that the musician's message did not contain any specific hints of an intention to commit suicide. In addition, there is speculation that the note was written by the rocker's "killer" to reinforce the suicide theory.

However, in 2014 it became known that another message to his wife Courtney Love was found in the wallet of the Nirvana leader after his death. It read as follows: "Do you, Kurt Cobain, take Courtney Michelle Love as your lawful wife, even if she is a pimply bitch and siphons off all your money for drugs and debauchery..." It is still unknown whether Courtney read this letter. By the way, she is the unofficial suspect in the musician's murder.

As OBOZ.UA wrote, on December 27, Lee Sung-gyun, a South Korean actor known for his role as Park in the Oscar-winning film Parasites, died. Probably, the cause of death was suicide, which could have been due to Lee's depression.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!