David A. Jobes

The Aftermath of Kurt Cobain’ Suicide

Kurt Cobain died at age 27. He was a cultural icon – a hero to a legion of identification-hungry youth. As a celebrity suicide, and as a voice of despair, Cobain’s death had all the potential to stimulate vulnerable youth to imitate and follow, to demonstrate the “Werther Effect.” This report is a preliminary and site-specific evaluation of that possibility. Cobain was considered a musical genius. He was a leader in the development of a neo-punk rock music that came to be known as “grunge rock.” He was the lead singer/songwriter for the rock band, Nirvana, an extraordinarily successful group formed in 1987. Two years after the release of their largely unnoticed first album, Nirvana’s second release, “Nevermind,” went on to sell ten million copies worldwide. Nirvana found superstardom. Cobain was labeled within the music industry as the next John Lennon. He quickly became the leading symbol of the “lost generation.” He pioneered an anti-fashion look (torn jeans; unwashed, chopped and dyed hair; worn out t-shirts; unraveling sweaters), the “grunge uniform.” Ironically, grunge, or alternative rock, soon was embraced by mainstream rock stations and fans, and, equally paradoxical, his anti-fashion look soon was being modeled by top fashion designers. Grunge apparel was “in.” Cobain was never able to adjust to his extraordinary success. He was born in 1967 in Aberdeen, a depressed logging town on the coast southwest of Seattle. The older of two children, he was diagnosed as hyperactive as a child and medicated with Ritalin. At the age of eight, his parents divorced. His adolescence found him living with various relatives, an angry, difficult-tocontrol teen. He had problems in conduct (vandalism) and began what would be a life-long struggle with substance abuse. In high school, Cobain began playing the guitar. He became increasingly absorbed in heavy metal and punk rock music. Just weeks prior to his high school graduation, he dropped out of school. He did drugs and engaged in petty crime. Two years later Nirvana was born. After the phenomenal success of “Nevermind,” Nirvana’s third album, “In Utero,” followed and also sold millions. Cobain soon met and married Courtney Love (leader of the punk band, “Hole”) and had a child. The marriage