Cobain: 20 years later

Saturday marks two decades since Kurt Cobain took his own life at just 27 years old.

The Nirvana frontman was reluctantly referred to as the voice of Generation X. And now, 20 years after his death, Cobian’s influence on music and culture continues to live on.

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” is a rock radio staple — it’s even starting to creep into the “classic rock” genre — but when the track first hit the airwaves in 1991 no one had heard anything like it.

“The phones just exploded. ‘What is this? What are you playing? Oh my God, where can I buy this?'”

Nevermind was Nirvana’s second album. Professional music geek Alan Cross says it changed everything for rock music. “When that record came out all the old stuff was swept away and all this new stuff started coming in.”

“It was almost the soundtrack to the store opening.” Dr Disc owner Mark Furukawa opened his Hamilton store the same year Nevermind was released. He ordered two or three CDs and a vinyl copy to sell. “And then we had to reorder it a bit and then it just started exploding.”

“Within months it became our top seller. Probably one of the top sellers of the store’s history.”

The success of Nevermind turned the spotlight on singer, guitarist and songwriter Kurt Cobain. His music became the spirt of Generation X. But the young artist struggled with fame. Cobain dealt with depression; he also turned to drugs. But it seems no one foresaw his suicide.

“I was stunned, I mean you never expect to hear music like that, especially for someone so young.”

Y108’s Chuck Evans was on the air at a station in Cambridge that didn’t even play Nirvana at the time. But when news hit the wires of Cobain’s death, he still felt the need to tell his listeners that the music world had just lost one of its best.

“You may not know who Kurt Cobain is, but your kids definitely will and it will be on their minds tonight.”

Furukawa still has his copies of music magazines reacting to Cobain’s suicide. But Nirvana’s albums continue to sell to a new generation – too young to remember what music was like before Kurt Cobain.