Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 9, 1994 TAG: 9404120024
SECTION: NATL/INT PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SEATTLE LENGTH: Medium
The death came a month after Cobain was hospitalized in Rome for a drug-induced coma.
Cobain's mother, Wendy O'Connor, said her son had been missing for six days and that she feared he would be found dead.
"Now he's gone and joined that stupid club," she said, referring to the early deaths of such rock stars as Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. "I told him not to join that stupid club."
Nirvana's music - a dense, weary form of punk rock - came to typify Seattle's grunge sound.
The group is known for the multimillion-selling 1991 album "Nevermind," which featured the hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and helped to give grunge a national following.
Another best-selling album, "In Utero," was issued last year. Cobain wrote the music and anguished lyrics to most of the group's songs.
"We are all devastated by the unbelievable tragedy of Kurt Cobain's death," Ed Rosenblatt, president of Nirvana's label, Geffen Records, said in a statement.
"The world has lost a great artist and we've lost a great friend - it leaves a huge void in our hearts."
Michael Azerrad, author of ``Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana,'' said Nirvana songs are so popular because they speak to the worries of people in their 20s.
``The divorce, the violence, the drugs, the diminished opportunities for an entire generation - that is so crucial to the sound of their music and the success of their music,'' he said in a 1993 Associated Press interview.
Seattle police said Cobain was found dead at his home and that a suicide note was found nearby. Authorities gave no detail on the content of the note.
The body was discovered by an electrician who had gone to do some work, police spokeswoman Vinette Tichi said. The body had been there about a day, she said.
When he fell ill last month in Italy, Cobain reportedly had gone to Rome with his wife, Courtney Love of the rock band Hole, and their daughter to recover from health problems that forced the band to cancel two concert dates in Europe.
by CNB