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After having an argument with Kathleen Hanna from Bikini Kill, another member of the punk rock band, Tobi Vail, wrote "Kurt smells like Teen Spirit" on the wall of his hotel room, referencing the deodorant she wore. Cobain loved the phrase.
An ex-girlfriend of Cobain’s has said he was severely self-conscious about his small frame. He weighed about 120 lbs (54 kg) and couldn’t put on weight. In an attempt to hide his thinness, he started wearing layer upon layer, even in warm weather.
Maybe this is not so surprising considering the cover of the band’s third and final album is titled ‘In Utero,’ and depicts an anatomical figure of a woman. Cobain said he kept fetuses at home, though no one knows for sure whether he meant actual fetuses or just model figures.
The 15-year-old used his Aunt Mari’s house as his studio to record songs using a guitar, a bass, and spoons banged against a suitcase. He named his first recordings ‘Organized Confusion.’
Cobain reportedly got a small ‘K’ inside a shield in 1991. The tattoo on his forearm represented the logo of K Records, an indie label in Olympia, WA.
Sources: (Complex) (Mental Floss)
See also: Did these famous figures predict their own deaths?
An early article about the band, before the release of Nirvana’s debut album ‘Bleach’ misspelled Cobain’s name, and he began using it occasionally.
Police arrested Cobain for assaulting Courtney Love in their home. Love has denied he assaulted her and said they were simply having an argument about guns in the house. Love has said: "Kurt is not violent, he is not a wife-beater, we are the most compatible people on earth," according to the Seattle Times.
He even met with a recruitment officer to discuss enrolling.
When Cobain was homeless, he would sometimes go to Grays Harbour Community Hospital to spend the night. This happened to be the hospital he was born in.
Cobain reportedly started using heroin to alleviate his pain. He famously wrote in his diary: “So I decided, if I felt like a junkie, I may as well be one.”
Before Nirvana, Cobain and Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic played in a band they called Sellout. Cobain said they used to play in bars in Washington and that local “rednecks” liked it.
One of the note’s final lines reads: “It’s better to burn out than to fade away,” which is a line from Young’s ‘My My Hey Hey (Into The Black).’ Young was so impacted by this that he dedicated his 1994 album ‘Sleeps With Angels' to Kurt.
Following the success of the band’s performance at MTV Unplugged, Cobain said the band’s next album would be more acoustic and ethereal, and would include a collaboration with R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe.
It wasn’t until several months after the release of ‘Nevermind’ that they were able to move out.
Despite not being aware of feminism as a teenager, he said: “I was always more of a feminine person. I always felt more inclined to hang out with girls.”
One of Cobain’s cousins, Beverly, has said in interviews that she believes her family’s history of bipolar disorder might have contributed to Cobain’s death.
Cobain formed a punk rock band in Aberdeen, WA, along with drummer Greg Hokanson, and Dale Crover of the Melvins. Future Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne (pictured) also collaborated with the band later on.
Cobain and Melvins' frontman Buzz Osborne (center) were close friends, and had a short-lived punk band together in their teenage years. The two musicians remained good friends throughout their lives.
Dr. Nikolas Hartshorne was a punk rock promoter, and responsible for booking one of Nirvana’s early gigs. He was later responsible for investigating Cobain’s death.
When the band was in its early stages, Cobain insisted they worked really hard. Courtney Love has said Cobain was “insanely ambitious.”
Courtney Love has said Cobain attempted to take his own life on three different occasions and had overdosed five times. She has said she continuously had to act as an EMT, and even carried Narcan in her purse. In March of 1994, he locked himself in a closet with guns and medication, prompting Love to call the police. Cobain died the following month.
Kurt Cobain’s distrust of the media, combined with his short life and even shorter career, means he shared little about his private life with the public. But in the decades since his death on April 5, 1994, those who knew the young legend have shared some fascinating details about him.
Click through the gallery for some surprising facts about his life that you might not have known.
Fascinating facts you probably don’t know about Kurt Cobain
30 years since his death: The grunge star lived an intense life, but he shared little with the public
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Kurt Cobain’s distrust of the media, combined with his short life and even shorter career, means he shared little about his private life with the public. But in the decades since his death on April 5, 1994, those who knew the young legend have shared some fascinating details about him.
Click through the gallery for some surprising facts about his life that you might not have known.