Revisiting AP’s Kurt Cobain memorial cover story, 20 years later

EDITOR’S NOTE:
We were less than a week away from delivering the color separations of AP 71 to our printer when we got word Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain had died. Everyone in the office was quite floored: We had gotten the first cover story with the band at the beginning of the promotional cycle for In Utero months prior [AP 63], and we were looking forward to seeing how Nirvana were going to deal with the attendant hype and scrutiny that always follows people who usher great cultural change. Sadly, that particular chapter in the band’s mythology never got that far.

In AP’s first and only “stop the presses” moment, the decision was made to bump Sonic Youth off the cover of AP in lieu of paying tribute to Cobain. Veteran music journalist Dave Thompson was living in Seattle at the time and he turned in this story as he was witnessing the city’s great sadness. The cover tagline, “Even In His Youth,” references the B-side of the original U.S. single of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” While we did beat all of the other monthly mags to the newsstand that month, that accomplishment didn’t do anything to assuage the great void Cobain’s death left in both underground culture and the hearts of music fans worldwide. —Jason Pettigrew, editor in chief

Kurt Cobain: Nobody Waved Goodbye

STORY: Jo-Ann Greene & Dave Thompson

This article originally ran in AP 71 (May ’94) and was filed shortly after the discovery of Kurt Cobain’s body; as such, some information contained in the story has since been ruled inaccurate. The story has been reprinted verbatim below with very minimal changes to grammar and structure to best convey the atmosphere immediately surrounding Cobain’s death.

The emotions ranged from stunned to stupid. Questioned about his own mother’s death, John Lennon once said that part of you is sad, but another part laughs and says, “I’m glad it wasn’t me.” And while it’s cliché to say no one was laughing in Seattle during the second weekend of April, it’s also a lit. The Kurt Cobain jokes started before the body was even identified. Human nature would not allow otherwise.

Human nature, though, is a funny thing. On one hand we were shocked, unable to believe what had happened, but on the other we couldn’t wait for what happened next. Local television station KING 5 had been bringing up toxicology reports since the story began, unable or unwilling to believe that the “King of the Junkies” took any way out which didn’t involve a fistful of pills.

Death should start a dating agency. Within hours of the story showing up on TV, Kurt’s “friends” were on there too. But where were they when he needed them?

First, the facts as they stood 72 hours after the body was found, 12 hours before this issue went to print. On Friday morning, April 8, a contracted electrician arrived at Cobain’s Seattle home. There was no answer, although a TV was on inside. Gary Smith began work, following wires along the garage to the upstairs apartment which, at one time, had been the home of the Cobain family’s former nanny. Looking in the window, he saw a knocked-over plant and what he originally thought was a mannequin. It was only when he saw the blood that he realized he was wrong. It was about 8:40 a.m. Kurt Cobain was dead.

AP Kurt Cobain Memorial Story: Kurt Cobain's home and garage where his body was found

Smith called the police who, after breaking through a locked door, discovered that Cobain had died of a single shotgun wound to the head. A suicide note lay nearby, along with a piece of the singer’s ID. It wasn’t enough for an official identification—early reports said only that the body of a man in his twenties had been found. But nobody had any doubt whose it was.

Smith’s boss called local rock station KXRX, who initially ignored the report. It took a second call to convince them; the station broke the news of Cobain’s death to Seattle. Meanwhile, the police were unable to locate Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, who was believed to be in Los Angeles, preparing for her band Hole’s tour. Eventually, the official identification was made through Cobain’s fingerprints.

In Seattle, as in the rest of the country, the immediate question was why? We’ll never know the entire answer to that question, but the chronology of events throughout the last month made it clear that Cobain was in deep emotional trouble.

Although the publicity machine had gone into overdrive after Cobain’s overdose in Rome, in Seattle it was common knowledge within the music community that it was no accident. As one insider succinctly put it, “There’s no way you accidentally take 50 sedatives.” In fact, it wasn’t. Sources now say he left a suicide note.

Returning home from his Roman misadventure, Cobain quickly resumed his drug usage (reportedly back to heroin), frightening all who knew him. Finally, Love called in Cobain’s friends, family, the band, as well as representatives from Geffen Records and Gold Mountain (Nirvana’s management) to arrange a drug intervention. Gold Mountain threatened to drop Cobain if he didn’t clean up. The threats and pleas apparently worked. Cobain promised to go into rehabilitation. >>>

But just days later, Seattle police received yet another emergency call from the Cobain home. This time, Love claimed that Cobain had locked himself in the bathroom with a gun and was threatening to kill himself. But when the police arrived, Cobain told them he wasn’t suicidal, but simply hiding from his wife. The SPD left the house with four guns, 25 boxes of ammunition and a bottle containing 25 assorted (and unspecified) pills. Cobain followed them out the door and left.

Still, things eventually smoothed over, and Cobain did indeed keep his promise to get help, entering California’s Exodus Recovery Center in Marina Del Rey on March 28. Everyone drew a huge sigh of relief.

Then without explanation or warning, Cobain left rehab three days later, eventually flying back to Seattle where he purchased a shotgun and seemingly disappeared. At the time, Love and daughter Frances were still in Los Angeles.

Two days later Cobain’s mother, Wendy O’Connor, filed a missing person’s report on her son. It was noted that he had “fled a facility” (the rehab clinic), “had bought a shotgun,” and though he was not considered dangerous, was suicidal. His mother supplied the address of a drug connection in Seattle, where she thought he might be found.

At 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5, Seattle music journalist Gillian Gaar called Love’s hotel in Los Angeles for their pre-arranged interview for a cover story for local music paper The Rocket. Gaar said she was told by the front desk that Love’s room number was accepting no calls.

A shroud of silence was surrounding the entire affair. Although the street had picked up on the tension, and rumor was spreading that Nirvana had broken up, in Seattle no one beyond Cobain’s immediate circle was even aware he was missing.

The Seattle Police went twice to the Cobain home in the upper middle-class neighborhood of Madrona, overlooking Lake Washington. Passing the brick wall and high bushes and trees that surround the shingled, gray house, the police drove up to the winding dive, there to be greeted both times by workmen. No one had seen Cobain. In fact, the police were beginning to have reservations about his missing status, privately believing he just didn’t want to be found. They were right.

AltPress Kurt Cobain Memorial Story

At some point, Cobain appears to have gone to the couple’s other home in the Carnation neighborhood of Seattle with someone accompanying him; two different brands of cigarette butts were found in an ashtray, one of which matched Cobain’s.

Love was desperately combing LA for her errant husband. At some point, she and Geffen hired detectives who fanned out looking for him in Seattle. Eventually they found him. The only problem was, he didn’t want to be found.

An insider confirmed that all involved “were doing everything they could. Kurt is a hard, hard… Nobody’s going to tell him, nobody will have control over him.” Unable to bring him in, a man was assigned to keep an eye on him. Love, who wanted to fly home to Seattle, was convinced by those around her that it would be better to stay in LA. The Madrona house remained locked and seemingly silent.

Another inside source who wished to remain anonymous relayed what happened next. “Someone was out there to watch him, and he fucked up. There’s only so much you can do; it’s a tragic thing. At some point the person’s got to reach out too.”

Sometime Wednesday night or Thursday morning, Cobain returned to Madrona alone. He pointed the shotgun to his chin and pulled the trigger. The hired men searched fruitlessly on. Cobain’s body lay for up to 36 hours before Smith discovered it.

The media circus swiftly grew. Camera crews set up outside the house, and a small trickle of mourners and curiosity seekers found themselves on the news. When that lost its allure, the film crews moved to local record stores, hang-outs and clubs, interviewing patrons at the Vogue and the Crocodile—venues closely associated with Nirvana’s early days in Seattle.

Friday was a long day. Shocked fans flooded radio switchboards across the country in an outpouring of grief. Suicide prevention lines reported an enormous surge in calls. Tributes from the famous, and not so famous, were broadcast. The music community in Seattle, still recovering from the murder of the Gits’ Mia Zapata, was left reeling by this latest tragedy.
 

By Saturday, flowers and keepsakes were being heaped at the Cobain home, as more camera crews arrived. Love finally arrived back in Seattle that afternoon, returning home with a group of family and friends in hired black limos. Michael Azerrad, author of the official Nirvana biography Come As You Are, was elected to deliver a short message from Love to the waiting crowd. She thanked her fans for their support and had no comment for the press. >>>