Prelude

To the left, a 1995 publicity still showing Kurt Cobain mocking suicide. This was taken quite some time prior to his death, which was accomplished with a shotgun rather than a semiautomatic rifle. In his later life, Kurt was plagued by intense stomach pain, one of the reasons he relied so much on drugs. Not an attempt to justify drug use, just his answer to the pain. Four weeks before his death, Cobain attempted suicide in Italy, leaving him in a temporary coma, widely reported in the media at the time.

Suicide

Kurt Cobain's body was discovered on April 8, 1994 by electrician Gary Smith, who was to install a burglar alarm in the residence. It is likely he killed himself on April 5. Heroin and valium both were found in his blood. The shotgun blast destroyed his head to the point where he was not recognizable; the body was identified from fingerprints. Cobain was 27.

Word spread quickly. MTV took the unprecedented step of ceasing all normal programming. An outdoor vigil in Seattle witnessed the playback of Cobain's suicide note, recorded by his wife Courtney Love. One fan killed himself after this event. Several others scattered about the country also followed.