SEATTLE — It’s a somber day in Seattle music history. Today marks 25 years since the death of Nirvana’s frontman, Kurt Cobain.
He was born and raised in Aberdeen, Washington, before he and his underground grunge band went on to become global rock stars.
KIRO 7 sat down with Cobain’s longtime fan, Chris Kellogg, the programming group director at KEXP Radio. The station was among the first in the country to play Cobain’s music, even before he became world-famous.
“Back in 1988, Kurt knocked on our door and he delivered a 7-inch single to the song 'Love Buzz,' said Kellogg. “He then went back to his car and listened, and when he didn’t hear the song played, he went to the pay phone and called and requested the song. And eventually, it did get played.”
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Cobain’s sky-rocketing career and later his untimely death was a big part of local news coverage here in Seattle.
In 1994, KIRO 7 was outside Cobain’s home shortly after his death by suicide.
That’s where we saw rocker Courtney Love, who had just married Cobain a few years earlier, outside comforting grieving fans.
Our news team at the time also covered Cobain’s public memorial at Seattle Center’s International Fountain that drew thousands of fans from around the world.
Today, many of Cobain’s fans still hold on to what this 90s grunge icon created and then left behind more than two decades after this death.
“He helped and Nirvana helped put Seattle on the map as a music city,” said Kellogg. “That staying power to me, is like the Beatles, just like Led Zeppelin, just like other legendary artists that we think of in rock and roll who will continue to inspire artists for generations to come.”
Cobain had one daughter, Frances Bean. This year, she turns 27, the same age as her father when he died.
Cox Media Group
