I remember seeing the main news story on MTV in the University Towers’ cafeteria as Kurt Loder followed up with the PSA-esque pleas telling other people to seek help if they felt like killing themselves. Despite my life-long bouts of anxiety, I couldn’t resist rolling my eyes over anyone wanting to imitate Kurt or thinking they’d get to join him in some mythical after life. We all know he’s too busy playing air hockey with Jimi Hendrix.
In the short run, it was a damned shame because Kurt was only 27 (a year older than me) and Nirvana appeared to be rebounding via their Unplugged record. Even as Grunge was wearing out its welcome, he could’ve reinvented Nirvana into something else since this is the natural evolution of long-term acts…except U2, they’ve been insufferable in every incarnation.
Drugs contributed heavily to his decision yet after 25 years, an early death has often been a good career move. Do you think Hendrix, Morrison and Joplin would draw crowds today if they were old, bloated and flogging a dead horse like their contemporaries? There’s also a chance they could’ve survived and continued to swindle millions with stadium crap shows like the Rolling Stones, Inc. or Paul McCartney, LLC in which the tour makes way more than every pathetic new album. One last observation, do you think Stevie Ray Vaughn would receive as much airplay had he lived another 30 years?
Personally, I am in the cynical camp regarding “death as a career move.” Nirvana’s follow-up In Utero sucked and having to eke out a hit by covering David Bowie told me Cobain had nothing left in the tank creatively. Nevermind is a great album, when its singles aren’t be playing ad nauseam via streaming services and the dying FM industry. Its greatness isn’t exclusively due to Kurt. Dave Grohl and Butch Vig’s contributions are what got Nirvana to break through. Dave leaving to form the Foo Fighters was inevitable because he proved to be the real talent in the trio.
When push comes to shove though, I would’ve preferred it if Kurt chose to live, get over his addictions and divorce Courtney Love (a real life succubus). Maybe with his newfound clarity, he could’ve worked on his second act career like Ministry or Underworld. Suicide is best reserved for the most contemptuous of people…and no, not Hitler, he should’ve been captured and put on trial before the world.
Below is a bit by Bruce McCullough of Kids in the Hall fame who sums up Kurt’s death with this track called “Vigil.”