--- description: April 8, 1994: Kurt Cobain commits suicide at age 27 title: Kurt Cobain of Nirvana: Blaming Fame for His Suicide Is Too Simple image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538280ca26958e2e/6987861c55a85933e7a8696a/nirvana.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why It's Too Simple to Blame Kurt Cobain's Suicide on Celebrity Alone by [Jennifer Latson](/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 8, 2015 2:30 PM CUT  Kurt Cobain of Nirvana during Nirvana in New York, New York, in 1990 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana during Nirvana in New York, New York, in 1990Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images by [Jennifer Latson](/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 8, 2015 2:30 PM CUT Many have blamed Kurt Cobain’s suicide — on this day, April 8, in 1994 — on the harsh glare of the spotlight: an especially brutal force for someone as sensitive as the Nirvana frontman. [LIFE Books described](http://life.time.com/culture/kurt-cobain-nirvana-remembering-a-reluctant-rock-star/#end "undefined") a tribute commemorating the 20th anniversary of Cobain’s death, last year, as “the story of a young man who buckled beneath the weight of enormous, unwanted fame.” In the book’s introduction, editor Bob Sullivan notes that “at the apex of Nirvana’s success, \[Cobain\] said he wished he could quit that gig and be a sideman in his wife’s band, Hole.” But casting fame as the villain in Cobain’s undoing would be an oversimplification. Whether or not he recognized all that it entailed, celebrity was his goal from the time he founded Nirvana. “He definitely wanted to be famous,” the band’s former manager, Danny Goldberg, [told _USA Today_](http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-04-06-kurt-cobain%5Fx.htm "undefined") in 2004\. “He worked assiduously with tremendous clarity to achieve that. He designed the band’s T-shirts, commented on detailed aspects of the bios, was acutely aware of every review and interview and how often the videos were on. He knew which songs would be singles.” That Cobain had achieved his goal was clear early on, when Nirvana’s 1991 album _Nevermind_ shot to the top of the charts, unseating Michael Jackson’s _Dangerous_ and selling 10 million copies — to the great surprise of music industry moguls. As [TIME put it](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980562-1,00.html "undefined") in 1994, “Nirvana came from the music-industry equivalent of nowhere, with a rough-edged first album recorded for a chiselly $606\. The next, _Nevermind_… fibrillated the psyche of a generation. It also launched the commercial vogue for grunge and made Seattle famous for something other than cappuccino, rain and bad professional sports.” Part of what made Nirvana famous was Cobain’s charisma. Recluse or no, he was an energetic presence and a magnetic force, as fellow musicians have attested. Recalling an early Nirvana performance, Beck [told TIME](http://time.com/50739/kurt-cobain-anniversary-nirvana/ "undefined") last year, “I have a memory of them coming out and he had his middle finger up, was giving his middle finger to the audience… I remember he had a smile on his face, there was a kind of playfulness, but it was also a little menacing, and I remember the minute they started playing, the entire audience erupted in a way I hadn’t seen before.” Cobain’s lingering impact is evident in a documentary, _Cobain: Montage of Heck_, airing on HBO next month; [one reviewer says](http://www.stereogum.com/1788780/cobain-montage-of-heck-the-stereogum-review/franchises/essay/ "undefined") it “will rattle you as much as Cobain rattled the world.” There’s also plenty of evidence that the same fandom Cobain found obnoxious in life has pursued him in death. His (long-)expired credit card was [up for auction](http://time.com/3717101/kurt-cobain-credit-card-auction/ "undefined") earlier this year, and, grimmer still, his suicide note was recently [printed on tank tops](http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6436629/kurt-cobain-suicide-note-t-shirt-nirvana-ebay-etsy "undefined") and t-shirts, allowing morbid fans to celebrate the star by wearing the note in which he “mourns his loss of enthusiasm for performing before Nirvana’s massive crowds.” **_Read TIME’s 1994 obituary for Kurt Cobain, here in the archives_**: [Never Mind](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980562,00.html "undefined") ### Artists Who Have Never Won A Grammy  Queen John Rodgers—Redferns/Getty Images  Jackson 5 Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Spice Girls Ray Burmiston—Photoshot/Getty Images  GLENDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 01: Recording artist Katy Perry performs onstage during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage) Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Björk Mark Horton—WireImage/Getty Images  Diana Ross performs in Dublin. ShowBizIreland/Getty Images  Nicki Minaj Denise Truscello—WireImage/Getty Images  Janis Joplin Evening Standard/Getty Images  Patti Smith Dick Barnatt—Redferns/Getty Images  Snoop Dogg Gabriel Olsen—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Jimi Hendrix David Redfern—Redferns/Getty Images  The Who The Visualeyes Archive/Redferns/Getty Images  The Doors Gunter Zint—Redferns/Getty Images  Led Zeppelin Chris Walter—WireImage/Getty Images  Public Enemy David Corio—Redferns/Getty Images  Journey Michael Putland—Getty Images  Kiss Michael Putland—Getty Images  Run-D.M.C. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Ramones Roberta Bayley—Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images  Brian McKnight KMazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Nas Merrick Ales—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Iggy Pop Frans Schellekens—Redferns/Getty Images  Kid Rock Scott Legato—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3766168/kurt-cobain-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3766168/kurt-cobain-history/"},"headline":"Why It's Too Simple to Blame Kurt Cobain's Suicide on Celebrity Alone","datePublished":"2015-04-08T14:30:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:46.382Z","description":"April 8, 1994: Kurt Cobain commits suicide at age 27","url":"https://time.com/3766168/kurt-cobain-history/","keywords":["Suicide","Music","nirvana","Kurt Cobain"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538280ca26958e2e/6987861c55a85933e7a8696a/nirvana.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Latson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt538280ca26958e2e/6987861c55a85933e7a8696a/nirvana.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nirvana","caption":"Nirvana","creditText":"Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3766168/kurt-cobain-history/","name":"Why It's Too Simple to Blame Kurt Cobain's Suicide on Celebrity Alone"}}]}] ```