This past Monday marked what would’ve been the 50th birthday of grunge icon Kurt Cobain. Many outlets have spent the week putting forth theories on what the Nirvana frontman would be doing with his career at the half-century mark. Some have said he’d be doing more acoustic, blues-based material, others think he’d have left music completely.
Whatever Cobain chose to do had he not died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 27 on April 5, 1994, it would be a completely different landscape musically and down other avenues. Let’s look at 10 things that have changed since the tormented singer last walked the earth and, if he came back today, what would stop him in his tracks.
THE INTERNET
It almost goes without saying, but the internet is the biggest thing to happen not just to music, but also to everything since 1994. In fact, Google wouldn’t even exist until 1998, whereas now it’s not just the name of a search engine, but has worked its way into the lexicon as a verb. Cobain would be shocked at the number of websites dedicated to his memory and Nirvana in general, and the voice the internet has given people around the world. It also begs the questions: Would Kurt embrace the technology? Would he use Twitter?
DIGITAL AGE OVER RECORD STORES
When Nirvana’s last proper studio album, ‘In Utero,’ came out in September, 1993, the build up to it was massive in the wake of the unexpected success of 1991’s ‘Nevermind.’ Record stores stocked the shelves with the new effort and it went to No. 1 on the charts, eventually going many times platinum. Today, there aren’t many record stores left and the majority of people get their music in digital format. The songs are played on Bluetooth speakers via computers or cell phones, which everyone carries with them now. One place any new songs Kurt puts out won’t get played…
MTV DOESN’T DO MUSIC ANYMORE
Despite how much mileage MTV got out of Nirvana during their all-too-brief-run, Cobain would be either disappointed or bemused that the network – and former frenemies – is known now more for endlessly looping ‘Catfish: The TV Show’ and ‘Teen Mom 2’ than showing his band’s ‘MTV Unplugged in New York.’
THE RISE OF REALITY TV
One way Cobain could get on MTV, or VH-1 for that matter, would be to embrace the explosion of reality television, which was in its infancy two decades ago. Could you picture him on ‘Celebrity Fit Club,’ or maybe ‘Rock of Love with Kurt Cobain?’ Probably not, but the possibilities would be endless for him to choose.
THOSE WHO DIED
The vocalists who came up when Cobain did who had passed since his own death like Blind Melon’s Shannon Hoon, Layne Staley of Alice in Chains and Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots were striking. All of them were drug related, and battling heroin addiction himself, Cobain would almost certainly identify with their individual struggles.
DAVE GROHL’S BAND IS HUGE
Depending who you believe, Dave Grohl had a complicated but strong relationship with Cobain while the former drummed in Nirvana (according to Grohl and everyone else around at the time), or, he was detested by the singer (according to Courtney Love). It would be interesting to see how he’d react to the Foo Fighters being one of the biggest rock bands on the planet with Grohl as the frontman. Remember, during his time in Nirvana, Grohl only provided vocals for one song, “Marigold,” a B-side to “Heart Shaped Box.”
GUNS N’ ROSES ARE STILL A THING
At the height of both of their popularities in the early 90s, Nirvana and Guns N’ Roses were polar opposites drawn together by circumstance. GnR frontman Axl Rose wanted Nirvana to be the openers for the ill-fated co-headlining jaunt with Metallica in 1992. Cobain declined and that summer at the MTV Video Music Awards, got into some heated verbal jousting with Rose that continued in the press until the singer’s death.
Time has healed most of those wounds, look no further than last April when Guns embarked on their partial reunion of the classic lineup and Rose was hobbled with a broken foot. He called to see if he could borrow the Foo Fighters’ throne, from when Dave Grohl broke his leg the previous year. Grohl graciously lent it out. Cobain might be dismayed at that turn of events and the fact that Guns N’ Roses are the biggest concert draws on the planet and playing stadiums again or maybe he’s mellowed out and be a fan.
HOLE NEVER REALLY BLEW UP
In the months before his passing, Cobain talked in all seriousness about quitting Nirvana and joining his wife Courtney Love’s band, Hole. That would add to the long-standing rumors, which have Cobain being the ghostwriter behind the band’s sophomore record ‘Live Through This,’ coming out just one week after Cobain’s death. Even though it was a high-profile release for the group, Love’s headlining antics on and off stage eventually outshone the group, and Hole spent the next several years going on hiatus, breaking up and failing to reform.
SPEAKING OF LOVE
Cobain may or may not be surprised at Love’s incidents onstage, but he might raise an eyebrow at her choice of partners both songwriting and otherwise rumored. She’s spent time in the studio and in the clubs with Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor, Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins and even Marilyn Manson.
POLITICAL ACTIVISM
As an unabashed feminist who speculated he might be bi-sexual, Cobain loudly denounced racists and homophobes. Entering into the current political climate would be a shock to the system, but one where Kurt would be comfortable, especially when it came to standing up for women’s rights. You can bet he’d have been outspoken at the front lines of the women’s march, which took place around the world last month to protest the policies of incoming president Donald Trump.
To contact music columnist Michael Christopher, send an email to rockmusicmenu@hotmail.com. Also, check out his blog at www.thechroniclesofmc.com
