In 1975, when Kurt was 8, his parents divorced, and the bitter separation and it's aftermath were devastating to the child. In the years that followed, Cobain was passed between his mother's home in Aberdeen, his father's in nearby Montesano, and sometimes the homes of other relatives in the region. "After the divorce, he changed completely." his mother told Rolling Stone magazine in 1992. "I think he was ashamed. He became really shy. It just devastated him."

In 1979, Cobain was faced with the suicide of a great-uncle. Five years later another uncle also committed. There are rumors that other relatives also committed suicide - making for the legend that Courtney  Love has referred to as the Cobain curse.

Finally Kurt lived in the house of his mother, who had married again. On one occasion, after finding out that her husband had cheated on her, she pointed a gun at his head and threatened to kill him. Kurt watched as she attempted unsuccessfully to load the weapon. Finally, in frustration she marched into the night and threw all the firearms from the house into a river. The next day, after paying two kids to fish them out, Kurt sold the guns for pocket cash. He used the money to buy his first amplifier.

Meanwhile punk rock was thriving and punk rock sounded like Cobain felt: desperate, angry, raw. He dropped out of high school, was booted from his mother's house and bounced from one friend's couch to the back seat of the next friend's car. He talked with his friend Krist Novoselic about forming a band: Nirvana was born.

In the fall of 1987 Cobain moved to Olympia, Washington. While he had gone there to live with his girlfriend Tracy Marander, Cobain had also discovered - for the first time in his life - a community that welcomed and appreciated his talents. He fell under the spell of Calvin Johnson, leader of the band Beat Happening and the head of K-Records, the innocent low-fi independent label whose logo was soon tattooed on Cobain's forearm. He worked on collages and paintings and began writing and rehearsing with Nirvana in earnest.

By 1988, Nirvana had recorded a batch of demo tapes and released their first single, "Love Buzz/Big Cheese"on Sub Pop Records, the label credited with capturing the Seattle sound. By 1989 the band recorded their debut   album called "Bleach" for only $ 606.17 and started touring. In Portland, Oregon Kurt first met Courtney Love when he sat down at her table and poured himself a beer.

After touring the band replaced drummer Chad Channing with Dave Grohl and readied itself to record once again. And that's what happened.

"Nevermind" was released in September of 1991 to little fanfare and even less expectation. Within months it reached the No. 1 spot, eventually selling 10 million copies worldwide. Nirvana were changing the face of music in the '90s, and no matter how much he attempted to curl into a corner somewhere out of the spotlight, Cobain was always at the eye of the hurricane. He developed a drug problem that would plague him until his final days. In an L.A. nightclub he met Courtney Love again, who had just founded her band "Hole". A short time later he introduced Courtney live on TV as "the best fuck in the world". In February 1992 the couple married in Hawaii and on August 18, Frances Bean, their daughter was born.

In their August issue, Vanity Fair magazine reported that Courtney Love had used Heroin while pregnant with Francis Bean. As a result of subsequent media attention, the Cobains were not allowed to be alone with their newborn daughter for one month. After a long and taxing battle with children's services in L.A., where they were living, the couple regained custody of the girl.

After releasing "Incesticide", a compilation of early singles and B sides, the band started working on "In Utero", the follow up to "Nevermind". "I just don't feel the same, emotionally, about our music anymore", Cobain told a friend after completing the record. "With this record, I'm just deadpan. My emotions just don't come out during it."

On May 2, 1993, Cobain came home shaking, flushed and dazed. Love called the police. According to a police report, Cobain had taken Heroin. Love injected her husband with buprenorphine, an illegal drug that can be used to awaken someone after a Heroin overdose. She also gave Cobain a Valium, three Benadryls and four Tylenol tablets with codeine, which caused him to vomit. Love told the police this kind of thing happened before.

A month later, on June 4, the police arrived at the Cobains' home again after being summoned by Love. She told the police that she and Cobain had been arguing over guns in the house. Cobain was booked for domestic assault and three guns found at the house were confiscated.

Seven weeks later, on the morning of July 23, Love heard a thud in the bathroom of the New York hotel where the couple was staying. She opened the door and found Cobain uncontious. He had overdosed again.

Nevertheless, Nirvana, performed that night at the Roseland Ballroom.

On Sept. 14, "In Utero" was released. The album debuted at the No. 1 position and the band hit the road for a long stetch of U.S. dates, including a brilliant performance on MTV Unplugged . According to sources,  Cobain  detoxed from heroin before the tour.

After completing their U.S. tour, the group relaxed a few weeks before leaving Europe in February. They began their tour in Lisbon, Portugal on February 5.

About 10 to 12 days into the tour, Cobain began to lose his voice. For a while, a throat spray purchased in Paris and administered before the shows helped ease his discomfort.

On Mar. 1 Nirvana performed at Terminal Eins in Munich, Germany. It would be their final show. Cobain lost his voice halfway through the performance and went to see an ear, nose and throat specialist the next day. Cobain was told to make two to four weeks rest. He was given spray and medicine for his lungs because he was diagnosted as having a severe laryngitis and bronchitis.

The Band  postponed the rest of their shows and took a rest. Cobain decided to stay in Europe. The plane trip and jet lag were too much to take in his condition. On March 3, he checked into Rome's five-star Excelsior Hotel where he met Courtney Love and Frances Bean the next afternoon. That evening, Cobain sent a bellboy out to fill a prescription for Rohypnol, a tranquilizer. He also ordered champagne from room service.

At 6:30 the following morning, Love found Cobain uncountious. "I reached for him, and he had blood coming out of his nose", she told in a later interview, adding, "I have seen him get really fucked up before, but I have never seen him almost eat it." At the time, the incident was portraited as an accident. It has since been revealed that some 50 pills were found in Cobain's stomach. A suicide note was found at the scene. Cobain was rushed to the Rome's Umberto I Polyclinic Hospital for five hours of emergency treatment and then tranferred to the american hospital just outside the city. He awoke from his coma 20 hours later and immediately scribbled his first request on a notepad: "Get these fucking tubes out of my nose."

Three days later, he was allowed to leave the hospital and returned to Seattle.

On March 18,  a domestic dispute escalated into a near disaster. After police officers arrived at the scene, summoned by Love, she told them that her husband had locked himself in a room with a .38-caliber revolver and said he was going to kill himself. The officers confiscated that gun and three others, along with a bottle of various unidentified pills.

On March 25, roughly 10 friends - including his bandmates, love and a intervention councelor - gathered at Cobain's house. As part of the intervention Love threatened to leave Cobain and his bandmates said they would break up the band if Cobain didn't check into rehab.

Love flew to L.A. on March 26 and checked into the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, where she began an outpatient program to detox from tranquilizers.

Back in Seattle on March 30, Cobain purchased a six-pound Remington 20-gauge shotgun and a box of ammunition. He dropped the gun at his home and took a plane to Los Angeles to check into rehab. He checked into the Exodus Recovery Center in Marina del Rey, California, where he spent only 2 days.

On April 1, he called Love, who was still at the Peninsula. "He said, 'Courtney, no matter what happens, I want you to know that you made a good record'", she later told a newspaper. "I said, 'Well, what do you mean?' And he said 'Just remember, no matter what, I love you.'" (Hole were due to release their second album, "Live Through This", 11 days later) That was the last time Love spoke to her husband. At 7:25 pm, Cobain told the clinic staff he was stepping out onto the patio for a smoke and jumped over the fence.

The next day, Love canceled Cobain's credit cards and hired private investigators to track him down. But he had already flown back to Seattle.

On April 4, Cobain's mother filed a missing-person's report. She told the police that Cobain might be suicidal and suggested that they look for him at a particular three-story brick building, described as a location for narcotics in Seattle's Capitol Hill district.

Neighbours say they spotted Cobain in a park near his house during this period, looking ill and wearing an incongruously jacket.

Sometime on the afternoon of april 5, Cobain barricaded himself in the greenhouse above his garage by propping a stool against its french doors. He penned a one page note in red ink and tossed his wallet on the floor, open to his driver's license, which friends belive was to help the police identify him. He drew a chair up to a window, sat down, took some more drugs (most likely heroin), pressed the barrel of the 20-gauge shotgun to his head and pulled the trigger. He left a wife, a nearly 2 year old daughter, who would never knew who her daddy was and millions of fans who won't forget him.

The NME search was a clever, saucy upstart of an attempt to be, uh, nasty. However, the Lord and Julian Cope himself know how we need, need, need the NME to embrace the unifying hands of our children across this big blue marble and NIRVANA's tarty musical career. So please bless us again - we'll forever feed off of your high-calorie boggy turbinates.

In an attempt to satisfy the second part of my quest, I went to the Rough Trade shop and of course, found no Raincoats record in the bin. I then asked the woman behind the counter about it and she said "well, it happens that I'm neighbors with Anna (member of the Raincoats) and she works at an antique shop just a few miles from here." So she drew me a map and I started on my way to Anna's.

Sometime later, I arrived at this elfin shop filled with something else I've compulsively searched for over the past few years - really old fucked up marionette-like wood carved dolls (quite a few hundred years old). Lots of them... I've fantasized about finding a ship filled with so many. They wouldn't accept my credit card but the dolls were way too expensive anyway. Anna was there, however, so I politely introduced myself with a fever- red face and explained the reason for my intrusion. I can remember her boss almost setting me on fire with his glares. She said "well, I may have a few lying around so, if I find one, I'll send it to you (very polite, very English)." I left feeling like a dork, like I had violated her space, like she probably thought my band was tacky.

A few weeks later I received a vinyl copy of that wonderfully classic scripture with a personalized dust sleeve covered with xeroxed lyrics, pictures, and all the member's signatures. There was also a touching letter from Anna. It made me happier than playing in front of thousands of people each night, rock-god idolization from fans, music industry plankton kissing my ass, and the million dollars I made last year. It was one of the few really important things that I've been blessed with since becoming an untouchable boy genius.

It was as rewarding as touring with Shonen Knife and watching people practically cry with joy at their honesty. It made people happy and it made me happy knowing that I had helped bring them to the U.K.

It was as rewarding as the last Vaselines show in Edinburgh. They reformed just to play with us in their home town, probably having no idea how exciting and flattering it was for us (and how nervous we were to meet them).

It was as rewarding as being asked to support Sonic Youth on two tours, totally being taken under their wing and being showed what dignity really means.

It was as rewarding as the drawings Daniel Johnson sent me, or the Stinky Puffs single from Jad Fair's son, or playing on the same bill as Greg Sage in L.A., or being asked to help produce the next Melvins record, or being on the Wipers' compilation, or Thor from T.K. giving me a signed first edition of Naked Lunch, or making a friend like Stephen Pavlovic - our Australian tour promoter who sent me a Mazzy Star LP on vinyl, or playing "The Money Will Roll Right In" with Mudhoney, or having the power to insist on bringing Bjorn Again to the Reading Festival, or being able to afford to bring my friend Ian along on tour just to have a good time, or paying Calamity Jane five-thousand dollars to be heckled by twenty thousand macho boys in Argentina, or asking my friends Fits of Depression to play with us at the Seattle Coliseum, or playing with Poison Idea at a No On Nine benefit in Portland organized by Gus Van Zandt, or being a part of one of L7's pro- choice benefits in L.A., or kissing Chris and Dave on Saturday Night Live just to spite homophobes, or meeting Iggy Pop, or playing with The Breeders, Urge Overkill, the T.V. Personalities, The Jesus Lizard, Hole, Dinosaur Jr., etc.

While all these things are very special, none were half as rewarding as having a baby with a person who is the supreme example of dignity, ethics and honesty. My wife challenges injustice and the reason her character has been so severely attacked is because she chooses not to function the way the white corporate man insists. His rules for women involve her being submissive, quiet, and non-challenging. When she doesn't follow his rules, the threatened man (who, incidentally, owns an army of devoted traitor women) gets scared.

A big "fuck you" to those of you who have the audacity to claim that I'm so naive and stupid that I would allow myself to be taken advantage of and manipulated.

I don't feel the least bit guilty for commercially exploiting a completely exhausted Rock youth Culture because, at this point in rock history, Punk Rock (while still sacred to some) is, to me, dead and gone. We just wanted to pay tribute to something that helped us to feel as though we had crawled out of the dung heap of conformity. To pay tribute like an Elvis or Jimi Hendrix impersonator in the tradition of a bar band. I'll be the first to admit that we're the 90's version of Cheap Trick or the Knack but the last to admit that it hasn't been rewarding.

At this point I have a request for our fans. If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us - leave us the fuck alone! Don't come to our shows and don't buy our records.

Last year, a girl was raped by two wastes of sperm and eggs while they sang the lyrics to our song "Polly". I have a hard time carrying on knowing there are plankton like that in our audience. Sorry to be so anally P.C. but that's the way I feel.

love, Kurdt (the blond one)

Nirvana's commercial success is the biggest mystery in the music scene. I don't want you to misunderstand. I didn't say Nirvana did not have enough ability to get “Platinum Disk prize,” but nobody could expect they would be such a famous band. The reason people think Nirvana's success is a mystery is that Geffen (the record label that Nirvana and some other popular bands - such as Guns N' Roses - belong to), sold only a few Nevermind at first but a lot of young people bought it and Nirvana got big money even then. But I think Nirvana themselves are very surprised about this incident. Actually,I had a chance to interview Kurt Cobain (vocals, guitar) during English concert tours (their supporting acts were their favorite groups, Shonen Knife and Captain America, by the way). He said the following:

“I didn't expect we would be so famous. I didn't even expect that our CD would be in the top 100 ranking in Billboard. You see, we had been in Europe before the great fuss. I don't want to relate with this fuss because I hate that a lot of fans are waiting for us at the airport.”

Kurt Cobain seemed like he was saying “Don't lose your mind” to himself during the interview. (personal opinion) Maybe they know a lot of musicians who lost their thoughts and became the toy of mass media. So Kurt Cobain is protecting himself before he goes the same way. Nirvana will come to Japan pretty soon so that you will be able to understand what I am trying to say. Because they will come to Japan, I will advise you about their concert. First thing I have to tell is that the concert is always unsociable. And also they are easily influenced by the environment so it depends on your luck whether the concert is very nice or boring.

This CD is released just for Japan. I'd like to introduce each song on this mini-album, but we don't even know what songs will be on the CD. By one Japanese record company's information, two of the songs from the Smells Like Teen Spirit CD single, which are Even In His Youth and Aneurysm. It may also include some songs which were broadcast by BBC Radio-1 in England. It may be just a rumor, but one of them may be their favorite song by the Vaselines.

I think that most of the people who bought this mini-CD have Nevermind too. But if it is the first time to buy Nirvana's CD for you, I recommend you to experience Nevermind. I'm sure you'll like it too.

The earliest performance on this album are brought to you courtesy of a sound board cassette recording of a December,1989 show at London's Astoria."Breed"(then called "Imodium") and "Polly"(the big rock version) are taken from this show, the last date of a European tour supporting fellow Sub-Poppers, Tad.

Early in 1991, the band signed with Geffen Records and acquired professional managment. D.I.Y fell by the wayside.

Nevermind was recorded in the spring of 1991. Following summer tours with Dinosaur Jr. and The Jesus Lizard, Nevermind was released in the fall. Immediatley following the release, we went on a tour headlining small venues that culminated with a Halloween homecoming show at Seattle's Paramount Theatre. This show was filmed and recorded onto multi-track...yielding the version of "Negative Creep" used in compiling this record.

Two days later, the band left for another European Tour. "School", "Been A Soon","Litium" and "Blew" were all taken from a show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on November 25, 1991. The show was filmed and recorded on multi-track for Dutch TV. "Spank Thru", this version having been recorded on November 19, 1991 in Rome, was actually the first Nirvana song.

While we were touring Europe, Nevermind was becoming all the rage back home. Though we were kept informed of the momentum, being so far away made us pretty oblivious to the extent of what was happening.

We ended the year with a brief West Coast Tour. The bill included Pearl Jam and Nirbana and was headlined by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The second show of this tour was on December 28, 1991 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds (just outside San Diego). For whatever reason, our set was particulary agressive that night - "Drain You", "Aneurysm" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" were all taken from this recording.

Early in 1992, the band toured Australia and Japan. Later in the summer, we traveled to Europe to make up some Scandinavian shows we had to cancel on the previous tour. The touring highlight of the year, however, was a headlining slot on England's Reading Festival. I have to say that hearing tens of thousands of people sing along with "Lithium" was a very cool moment in the history of the band. We were having fun playing and decided to stretch the set out a bit - enter "tourette's," a song which had been around for a few years(and eventually found its way into In Utero.)

Following the release of In Utero in 1993, we once again hit the road. Using leftover props from the "Heart-Shaped Box" video shoot as set dressing(our first foray into the world of stage props), we concentrated on working up a set that spanned the band's entire career and gave the audience a longer show than we had done on past tours. In that we were playing the "big" halls on this tour, it was felt that we needed to bring along a "big" sound.... ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Pat Smear.

"Scentless Apprentice" was filmed and recorded by MTV for their 1993 New Year's special... recorded at a show at a pier in Seattle. "Heart-Shaped Box" comes from a sound board DAT recording from a show at The Forum in Los Angeles in December, 1993. We took "Milk It" from a sound board recording from the Seattle Center Arena. "Sliver" is taken from a board tape from the Springfield Civic Center (in Massachusetts)

In presenting this record, we hope that we ultimate allure of Nirvana (and especially Kurt) as well as the passion that we had - and have- for the music we made is once again brought to the forefront. Let all the analysis fall away like yellow, aged newsprint. Crank this record up and realize the bliss, power and passion...
TOTAL NIRVANA!

Krist Novoselic