Today in History: Kurt Cobain is presumed to have killed himself
Kurt Cobain is widely regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, having risen to fame as the founder and leader of the 1980/ 90s rock band, Nirvana.
Following the success of their second studio album, Nevermind, Nirvana was labelled “the flagship band” of Generation X, and Cobain hailed as “the spokesman of a generation”.
Cobain was however uncomfortable with the label, believing his message and artistic vision had been misinterpreted by the public, with his personal problems often subject to media attention.
His struggles with handling the fame often led to him resorting to drugs to cope with his life and stresses, overdosing a number of times in the years before his death.
In March 1994, a month before his death, Cobain had overdosed on champagne and Rohypnol, an event that is regarded by his spouse Courtney Love, as his first suicide attempt.
Fifteen days later, Love called the Seattle police informing them that Cobain was suicidal and had locked himself in a room with a gun. Cobain stated however that he had locked himself in the room to get away from Love.
Love, along with nine other individuals close to Cobain, planned an intervention which saw Cobain promise to undergo a detox programme.
Cobain was admitted to the Exodus Recovery Center in Los Angeles on March 30, 1994. His admission wouldn’t last long however, as he left the next day, having climbed over a fence. He then took a taxi to Los Angeles Airport and flew back to Seattle.
On the flight, he sat next to Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses.
Despite Cobain’s personal animosity towards Guns N’ Roses, and specifically Axl Rose, Cobain “seemed happy” to see McKagan.
McKagan later stated he knew with “all of my instincts that something was wrong”.
On April 2 and 3, Cobain was spotted in numerous locations around Seattle.
On April 3, Love contacted private investigator Tom Grant, and hired him to find Cobain.
Five days later, on 8 April, Cobain’s body was found by electrician Gary Smith, who had arrived to install a security system.
Much speculation surrounds Cobain’s death, with many theories coming from Grant himself, but the official ruling is that he committed suicide with a shotgun.
A high concentration of heroin and traces of diazepam were found in his body.
Cobain’s body had apparently been lying there for days as the coroner estimated that Cobain had died on 5 April, 1994.
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