Courtney Love has set the record straight about why Kurt Cobain wanted to quit Nirvana all those years ago, revealing that the rumours that he disliked the fame were “such bullshit”.
Back in the early ’90s, it was pretty hard to find a more popular and successful band than Nirvana. The Seattle three-piece might have been together for only seven years (with numerous drummers passing through the ranks in the meantime), but their legacy has endured, with the topic of frontman Kurt Cobain’s life and music forever remaining a talking point.
However, rumours have persisted for years that prior to his death in 1994, Kurt Cobain expressed his desires to quit the band, citing a variety of reasons, including his hatred of the fame that came from being in Nirvana or the fact he wanted to give it away so he could join wife Courtney Love’s band, Hole.
Now, in a new interview with GQ (via Alternative Nation), Courtney Love has attempted to set the record straight about why Cobain wanted to leave the band that changed the face of alternative rock music.
“[Nirvana] started to dissipate with the whole ‘Kurt and Courtney’ post-Vanity Fair phenomenon, which really affected me, Kurt and Frances,” Courtney Love explained, referencing a Vanity Affair article in which the pair wee referred to as “the new Sid and Nancy”.
“Kurt became more reclusive [after] and didn’t rehearse as much and talked about ending the band, which was just Kurt being reactive. Dave split for a while to skate with his old DC friends in LA and the Valley because me and Kurt’s life turned into a clusterfuck of scary lawyers, doctors for his stomach, some drugs,” she continued. “We weren’t watching Nirvana or Hole’s fates. We had to save our kid.”
“I think Dave was sensitive to that and just took a break. Dave and Krist knew the inner workings of Kurt and never pointed fingers at me, which I am grateful for.”
“There’s this myth that Kurt didn’t want success,” Love concluded. “That is such bullshit. He worked his ass off to form the right band. Kurt loved that they had made it and moved [Michael] Jackson off the charts, but he never really got to enjoy it because the circus came to town to take our kid.“I don’t think the band had a discord about success.”
“Dave was welcoming of it, as was Kurt. Success is a nice warm bath of love from the outside world, but also one hell of a harsh teacher.”
Incidentally, this news comes just a couple of weeks after Kurt and Courtney’s daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, revealed that she has concrete plans to kick off her own music career. Who knows, before long you might be able to head down to the local record store and pick up the latest album by Cobain – just like old times!
Check out Nirvana’s ‘In Bloom’:
