Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain tragically committed suicide 25 years ago today at his home in Seattle. Cobain was just 27 years old but had experienced the height of fame thanks to the commercial and critical success of the band. Despite a tenure of less than seven years that included just three studio albums, Nirvana was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2014.
Kurt Donald Cobain was born in Aberdeen, Washington on February 20, 1967. He formed Nirvana in 1987 with bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Aaron Burckhard. Dave Grohl took over the drum seat in 1990, locking into place a lineup that would last until Kurt’s death. The band hit the big time in 1991 when MTV put the soon-to-be iconic video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” off Nevermind, their major label debut, into heavy rotation. Nevermind was so popular it replaced a Michael Jackson album atop the Billboard 200 chart four months after its release. Cobain struggled with fame, health issues and drug addiction in the wake of Nevermind’s success. He attempted suicide on March 3, 1994 in Rome and sadly shot himself in the head just over one month later.
On December 31, 1993 Nirvana brought their tour in support of In Utero to the Oakland Coliseum Arena in Oakland for a New Year’s Eve performance. The band worked 10 of the 12 songs from their three-month old record into the setlist as well as eight gems from Nevermind. An interesting moment took place during “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam,” when Cobain pointed out an audience member “copping a feel,” stopped the show and had the guy kicked out.
The concert concluded with a New Year’s countdown and a celebration of the start of 1994. Nirvana ended their final song too early, leaving them three minutes to fill before midnight. Dave Grohl took a drum solo but eventually, Kurt stopped caring about the actual time and just started the countdown. “Pauly Shore” descended from the ceiling dressed as an angel as 1994 began, balloons dropped from the ceiling and pyro was set off above the stage. Cobain quipped, “Hey it’s just like a Grateful Dead concert! Merry Jerry Christmas and Happy New Year!.” Nirvana engaged in space jamming for a few minutes before calling it a night.
Check out the video compiled by Chester Copperpot5 below:
- 00:30 Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
- 04:20 Drain You
- 08:03 Breed
- 11:12 Serve The Servants
- 14:48 Come As You Are
- 18:31 Smells Like Teen Spirit
- 23:20 Sliver
- 26:04 Dumb
- 29:04 In Bloom
- 33:23 About A Girl
- 36:40 Lithium
- 40:52 Pennyroyal Tea
- 44:55 School
- 47:53 Polly
- 51:23 Frances Farmer
- 55:22 Milk It
- 59:07 Rape Me
- 1:01:50 Territorial Pissings
- 1:05:53 Jesus Wants For A Sunbeam
- 1:07:20 (Kurt stops playing to kick out a fan for groping)
- 1:11:35 Where Did You Sleep Last Night?
- 1:16:05 The Man Who Sold The World
- 1:20:46 All Apologies
- 1:24:40 Scentless Apprentice
- 1:29:00 Heart-Shaped Box
- 1:34:20 Blew
- 1:38:30 (Countdown to New Year 1994)
