“It’s better to burn out than to fade away,” said Neil Young on his 1979 track, “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue).” These were the last words on what has been said to be Kurt Cobain’s suicide note. Cobain was one of the greatest and most influential grunge rock performers the world has seen, and fans still think about his devastating death today, with the police statement still not being widely accepted.
Born in Aberdeen, Washington, on Feb. 20, 1967, Cobain was a bubbly, artistic and overall happy child—until he was nine years old. At that point in his life, his parents unexpectedly divorced, and he struggled with this new, broken home. He resented his mother for sending him to live with his father and eventually disassociated himself from most of his family, often staying at friends’ houses.
One of his friends introduced him to punk rock and marijuana, and he fell in love. He loved the creativity and ideas one could express through punk rock and the tranquility he could attain from smoking weed. In 1989, the household name Nirvana was formed, and their first album, “Bleach,” was released, but it had limited popularity. However, with the release of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1991, Nirvana gained immense popularity and proved itself to be a major player in establishing the Seattle music scene.
However, Cobain was never completely comfortable with his fame and hated being labeled as the spokesman of a generation and all the pressure it put on him. In addition to struggling with the fame, he also had frequent stomach issues, which he often self-treated with heroin, something that his wife, Courtney Love, also used. In 1994, he overdosed and was hospitalized in Rome for what many believe to be a failed suicide attempt. He later checked into rehab in Los Angeles, but jumped over the fence to escape, heading back to his Seattle home.
On April 8, 1994, he was found dead in his home. At the time, it was ruled as a suicide from shooting himself. Recently, however, a number of people have taken it upon themselves to get the case reopened as a homicide investigation.
Michelle Wilkins, a private researcher, led an independent and unofficial research team of forensic specialists and further investigated Cobain’s death. They spent hours looking at all the released pictures and files, and eventually created a report that argued the death was a homicide. One of their main pieces of evidence was how unlikely it was that Cobain was able to operate the shotgun with such a high level of heroin in his blood. The photographs of the crime scene also showed a rather clean area, with no blood on Cobain–something unusual for a suicide by shotgun. Since the release of the paper, it has been covered by popular news sites, such as The Daily Mail.
Despite the evidence and renewed interest in the case, the Seattle Police Department has confirmed that the case is closed, as a review of the evidence was already done by the department in 2014. Still, it is unlikely the debate amongst fans will end here, especially because of Wilkins’ paper that was published, as well as the fact that Cobain was a huge figure in many people’s lives, due to his impact on music.
