Original subtitles

Yeah. Next.. next week.

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

You tell me when you're rolling. I am rolling. OK.

Is it all right to smoke?

OK, and then ask a couple more questions, and then...

You see people who've been around the music business for a long time,

you see that people are genuinely affected by being a rock star

and being famous.

Yeah, that's my future.

Either I've accepted it, or I've gone beyond insane.

This program me contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting, and deals with suicide.

One, two, three, four.

This is the sound.

This is the group.

Born and bred in the Northwest,

the rock group Nirvana is going to the top.

MUSIC: Love Buzz by Nirvana

This is crack cocaine,

seized a few clays ago by drug enforcement agents

in a park just across the street from the White House.

CHEERING

# Would you believe me when I tell you

# You're the queen of my heart

# Please don't deceive me when I hurt you

# just ain't the way it seems

# Can you feel my love buzz...? #

There's Mr Mandela.

Mr Nelson Mandela, a free man,

taking his first steps.

# Can you feel my love buzz? #

I don't know if you've heard about this or not,

but Nirvana has displaced Michaeljackson.

It's the number one album in the country right now.

Seattle has turned into the musical Mecca of the early '90s.

# Would you believe me when I tell you... #

They will have a chance to keep their own families together

and to deal with the problems that are affecting this country!

APPLAUSE

# just ain't the way it seems

# Can you feel my love buzz...? #

The stores can barely keep the album in stock.

# Can you feel my love buzz?

-

If we were up in space, I would be floating around.

The internet is a great place to get help and make friends.

There's more happening on the internet than you ever dreamed.

Of course, no-one knows how long Nirvana will stay on top,

but industry experts seem to agree

the Seattle sound is here to stay.

We must all never forget that the children are our future,

and without them, mankind would become extinct.

Get a Honda lawnmower today with no money down, no interest,

and no payments until October 1994!

SONG CRESCEN DOES

Chris and Dave and I haven't changed at all.

I mean, believe it or not, we get along

just as well as we ever did.

You know, we're just the same passive-aggressive people

as we used to be. You know, we never fight.

It's easier to work that way, you know, cos we have a mission.

You've achieved so much success.

You've had a baby, been married.

What excites you now?

HE LAUGHS My baby and my marriage.

It really does change your attitude about things, you know?

I mean, four years ago, I would've said the classic thing like,

you know, how dare someone bring a child into this life?

You know, it's completely a terrible way to go and, you know,

the world's going to explode any day, and stuff like that.

But once you fall in love, it's a bit different.

The Northwest music scene, on top of the industry -

but has all the fame tainted it?

Article after article is appearing in national newspapers ancl magazines

about how local rockers are addicted to heroin.

Insiders tell us addiction is there.

They say it's always been there,

but now it's getting attention.

Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and his wife, Courtney Love,

talk openly about their heroin use.

Did you ever have second thoughts about bringing a child

into the world, the way it is? Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

I really was a lot more negative and angry,

and everything else a few years ago,

but that had a lot to do with...

...not having a mate, you know,

not having a steady girlfriend, and stuff like that.

So, you know, that was one of the main things that was bothering me,

that I wouldn't admit at the time, you know?

So, now that I've found that,

the world seems a lot better.

CHEERING

AND APPLAUSE

CHEERING STOPS

Kurt Cobain was vacationing in Rome with his wife and daughter

when he fell into the coma.

His wife found him unconscious at 6:30am.

He was rushed by ambulance to the Polyclinic Hospital,

where doctors pumped his stomach.

First reports were that Cobain was stricken after taking

a potentially lethal combination of sedatives and champagne.

This morning in Seattle, the alternative rock station

The End was inundated with calls.

I wish him the best, you know, I hope, you know,

he never does that again.

His local fans are hoping he'll pull through

and that this will be the last of his troubles.

In Seattle, Susannah Frame, King 5 News.

Police reports from March 18th show that officers were

called to the home that night.

The report says Courtney Cobain told officers Kurt had locked

himself in a room and that he was going to kill himself.

She also stated that he had a gun in the room.

Cobain told police he was not suicidal

and didn't want to hurt himself.

The report says, clue to the volatile situation with the threat

of suicide and the recovery of unknown medication,

the weapons and medication were placed into custody.

DISTANT SIRENS POLICE RADIO CHATTER

Network Olympia, mostly cloudy, 66.

At Boeing Field, mostly cloudy, 63.

Ancl in Bremerton, it's partly cloudy and 62 degrees.

PHONE RINGS

Dependability.

That's what built this land...

PHONE RINGS

...turned out not to be an injury, thankfully.

Ancl North on 167, just north of 180, the right lane still blocked

by that earlier problem we had.

PHONE RINGS

RINGING CONTINUES

RINGING CONTINUES

PHONE RINGS

RINGING CONTINUES

RINGING STOPS

Cobain was in the news last month

when he wound up in an Italian hospital.

Recapping this breaking story for you, a body found in

the singer's Lake Washington home this morning.

This happened about 8.40am this morning

when an electrician came here.

This is Kurt Cobain's residence.

The electrician was going to do some repair work.

He went up to above the garage,

where there's a small cottage above the garage.

Ancl when he looked inside, he saw a man lying on the floor.

It was obvious this man is dead

from a shotgun wound to the head.

Now, there was a suicide note left inside the house,

and he quickly left and called the police.

Our officers had to break into the door because it was locked,

and it was obvious this person was dead at the scene here.

Our detectives are looking over at the scene,

at the note at this time.

This is a special report from KOMO News 4.

I'm Emily Langlie in the KOMO Newsroom.

We have a breaking story just in - Kurt Cobain, the lead singer

of the Seattle rock group Nirvana, is dead.

Fans outside Cobain's home are struggling to make sense of

what could have caused the singer to take this desperate step.

I never thought in a million years

that something like this could happen.

I just... This is insane.

Electrician Gary Smith was just looking for a way to run some

electric cable around this house.

What he found has now sent shock waves around the world.

Then I noticed something on the floor.

I thought it was a mannequin.

So I looked a little closer and I said,

"Oh, geez, that's a person," you know?

Ancl I could see blood in the ear,

and a weapon laying on his chest.

He left a suicide note, but authorities won't release it.

I only read the bottom lines on it.

The bottom two lines said, "I love you, I love you," to someone.

The reason why I called is I am...

I had a chance to meet Kurt Cobain when he...

...when Nirvana did the benefit concert.

just seemed like a really nice guy.

RADIO TUNING

Through his career, his lifestyle, he's been committing suicide

and telegraphing that to his audience and everyone

for a long time.

And I don't understand why his fans would be so upset

or so surprised with this occurrence.

You know what I mean?

He just took the easy way out.

Ancl a lot of people say, you know, he was troubled,

he was this, he was that, he was a drug addict.

Er, he could've got treatment.

He could've dropped out of the limelight, since it seemed

to bother him so much,

and just gone on as being an average, everydayjoe.

He could've dropped out of sight.

You have to understand, I have worked on

suicide prevention lines before.

People who are in that situation and are going to kill themselves,

they're not thinking about what it's going to do to other people,

and if they are, they're thinking that it will be better for them.

Fans, while saddened by the news, weren't surprised.

He almost OD'd about a couple of weeks ago, and he was in a coma,

and we almost lost him then.

just broken a barrier, I think,

as far as alternative music is concerned.

The lead singer of Nirvana,

one of the world's most popular rock bands,

has been found dead at his home in Seattle.

Police said Kurt Cobain had apparently shot himself,

and a suicide note was found nearby.

There's never going to be anyone like him again.

Erm...

His music's pretty much unique.

Ancl I'd just like to say, rest in peace, Kurt.

Oh, basically, now is about the only time I haven't been crying.

Oh, it's just... My heart's beating like crazy.

It just doesn't feel like it's real.

Since Cobain has been a huge role model,

some fear his suicide may inspire troubled teens to do the same.

It's fear grounded in the fact that, by one estimate,

the teen suicide rate in Washington is seven times the national average.

And, like Cobain, guns are used in over half those suicides.

I think it was stupid.

He's got a daughter and a wife and a family, and...

I'm sure that some parents would be concerned by this

role model doing this.

A lot of people our age think about committing suicide,

and no-one talks about it.

it just builds up inside, because people are afraid

they'll be called kooky or crazy if they go up to somebody

and say, "Hey, I need some help".

If you're a parent, you're a mother,

you're a brother or anybody,

and you think you even have a slight, maybe,

thought that a person, a friend of yours might be depressed enough,

upset enough to commit suicide,

say, "Hey, you know, I'm really worried about you.

"I know something's wrong.

"I know you're not feeling how you usually do.

"And I'm here for you if you need to talk."

CHILDREN IN UNISON: 96, 97, 9s, 99...

"1001

Several of his songs are going to be played 50 years from now.

I don't think there's any doubt whatsoever that

Smells like Teen Spirit is going to be played 50 years from now.

He did leave a lot of people, but I'm sure, in his mind,

he probably didn't view it that way.

We did love his music, and I'm sorry that there's not going to be more,

you know, Nirvana albums in the future.

I could care less about him.

The only thing that hurts me is that it's his daughter.

Kurt Cobain's mother says she feared that her son would be found dead,

and she was quoted as saying that

"now he's gone and joined that stupid club,"

referring to the early deaths of other rock superstars

like jimi Hendrix and jim Morrison.

In Seattle, Robin Kish, King 5 News.

Oh, we're going to see the house...

...where he was found and everything,

and that he was really a good singer and it's too bad he had to go.

So we just wanted to see where... he cited.

Well, obviously, it's a big disappointment, because there's

a lot of product out there.

Ancl I really feel that these are three guys who didn't care

what they put out, just as long as they liked it.

So the true, raw emotion grabbed people, grabbed myself,

had me move here - which may sound like a juvenile reason -

from another city.

I just think that it's a loss.

I liked Kurt Cobain a lot, and I listen to Nirvana a lot.

And...there's no more Nirvana,

so just go on.

Well, it's just sad, really. It's really a sad thing.

Todd Meehan manages

West Hollywood's Tower Records store,

and a troubled Cobain stopped by four months ago.

He looked just so down and so out of it.

He might've been on some kind of, you know, downers or something.

But he just kind of said, "You got a cigarette"?

Ancl I was like, "Sure, Kurt. I'll get you a cigarette."

Well, let's do this question again, and then I'll ask you a couple

of other questions, just in case they want something different. OK.

Can you tell me, musically, how important was Kurt Cobain?

How important were Nirvana?

He will obviously be hyped up after his death,

because of the manner that he cited.

But how important, musically, were they?

Well, Nirvana were perhaps the biggest group in the world,

and Kurt Cobain was very much the figurehead of

the whole grunge scene,

which has been the biggest musical movement in America

and in Britain for the last three to five years.

Errn, also, he'll be elevated to cult status because of

the nature of his death.

And also, it's the first time sincejimi Hendrix in 1970 that

a major rock star has died at the height of his creativity.

It could be said that his best work was still to come.

Hey, we're celebrating Kurt Cobain's life tomorrow at

the Flag Plaza Stage, at the Seattle Center.

It's happening tomorrow at 5pm.

Show up, bring a candle, bring a friend and hang out.

EXCITED CHATTER

The main thing we'd like everyone to remember is that

we're going to get through this,

that it's OK,

and you need to get rest.

You need to make sure that you eat.

When I heard the news, it felt like I lost

one of my best friends, really did.

Really sucked.

I came because, erm, Kurt,

I thought he was a very talented songwriter.

Yeah, I think he is pretty selfish for leaving his family behind,

and pretty much just the whole group, and just ditching

the whole Nirvana thing.

I think it's pretty selfish that he went and just, like,

ditched his wife and the Bean like that.

I'm getting choked up, I'm sorry!

OK, well, I'm Bev Cobain, Kurt's second cousin,

actually, his dad is my cousin.

I have a particular... I feel a particular loss since

I'm in the addictions business.

I'm a registered nurse, and I deal with mental health and addictions.

He was really having a hard time.

I sent him many telegrams, trying to reach him,

and see if I could reach my hand out to him.

And it feels particularly awful to me to have...

...to be good at what I do and to help other people all the time,

and not to be able to help somebody I love.

Kurt didn't feel the general mould of society in a logging town...

...and so he was beaten upon by people who didn't understand him.

One clay, I heard that he was in a fight a few blocks away.

When I ran to the scene, the fight was over.

However, I heard from a friend that Kurt was assaulted

by a burly 250-pound logger type.

Evidently, Kurt did not even fight.

He just presented the bully with the appropriate hand gesture

every time he was knocked down until the bully gave up.

SCATTERED LAUGHTER

To top it all off, Kurt just had that usual grin on his face.

I came here because I personally am upset,

and I think there's about 20 other people who came here

because they are actually personally hurt and upset this happened,

and not here to pick up on boys

or to do drugs.

Ancl it pisses me off.

Like...MTV boy over there,

and people who are going around with video cameras for

their own private, personal, morbid collection.

I think that's disgusting.

Ancl I wanted to say that, and it's really making me upset,

all these people who are walking around, going,

"Whoa, this is that neat Kurt Cobain,

"grunge, alternative crowd.

"Aren't they cool?

"They're wearing their flannels and their fake Doc Martens."

Ancl it really makes me upset that these people

are just as shallow as that.

We remember Kurt for what he was - caring, generous and sweet.

Let's keep the music with us.

We'll always have it forever.

Kurt had an ethic toward his fans that was rooted in

the punk-rock way of thinking.

No band is special, no player royalty.

If you've got a guitar and a lot of soul, just bang something out

and mean it.

You're the superstar plugged in the tones and rhythms

that are uniquely and universally human - music.

Use your guitar as a drum.

just catch the groove and let it flow out of your heart.

That's the level that Kurt spoke to us on, in our hearts.

And that's where he and the music will always speak, forever.

I feel the same way you guys do.

If you guys don't think... that I used to sit in this room...

TEARFULLY: ..when he played guitar and sang,

and feel so honoured to be near him...

Anyway...he left a note. SHE SNIFFLES

It's more like a letter to the fucking editor.

I don't know what happened.

I mean, it was going to happen...

...but it could've happened when he was 40.

He always said he was going to outlive everybody and be 1 20.

I'm not going to read you all the note, cos it's none of

the rest of your fucking business, but some of it is to you.

SHE SIGHS

I don't really think it takes away his dignity to read this,

considering that it's addressed to most of you.

He's such an asshole.

I want you all to say "asshole" really loud.

ALL: Asshole!

SHE CHUCKLES

Well, Kurt, so fucking what?

Then don't be a rock star, you asshole.

No, Kurt, the worst crap I could think of is for you

to just continue being a rock star when you fucking hate it.

just fucking stop.

AWw!

So, why didn't you just fucking stay?!

Oh, shut up, bastard.

Then he goes on to say personal things to me that are

none of your damn business.

Personal things to Frances that are none of your damn business.

I don't remember this, cos this is a fucking lie.

TEARFULLY: God, you asshole.

That '80s "tough love" bullshit, it doesn't work.

We all should've let him have his numbness.

We should've let him have the thing that made him feel better,

that made his stomach feel better.

We should've let him have it,

instead of trying to strip away his skin.

TEARFULLY: I'm really sorry, you guys.

I don't know what I could've clone.

SHE SOBS

# Yeah, they really want you

# They really want you

# And I do, too

# I want to be the girl with the most cake

# He only loves those things because he loves to see them break

# I fake it so real

# I am beyond fake

# And someday, you will ache like I ache

# And someday, you will ache like I ache

# And someday, you will ache like I ache

# And someday, you will ache like I ache

# And someday, you will ache like I ache

# And someday, you will ache like I ache

# And someday, you will ache like I ache

# Someday, you will ache like I ache. #

I felt pressure when we first started performing, because...

...our first show was maybe a month-and-a-half after

we'd actually played together.

So, there was... Yeah, I felt pressure there.

Ancl I could feel everyone looking at me,

thinking that it was strange that I was holding a guitar.

So, there was... Yeah, there was...

I felt uneasy at first.

One, two, three, four.

MUSIC: Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam by Nirvana

His music brought a level of feeling, a depth of feeling

that had been missing from music.

Ancl that's why I think so many people connected with it.

#Jesus don't want me for a sunbeam

# Sunbeams are never made like me... #

Kurt Cobain really never came to grips with his punk values

that he held so dear, and his punk sensibilities,

and then the riches and fame that came his way.

I mean, we know that from his lifestyle,

even his suicide note leads us to this conclusion.

It's a shame he never reconciled the punk values that he held so dearly

with the adulation that came his way, and never saw how he was

inspiring a lot of young men and women who were just like himself,

that needed that inspiration.

# Don't expect me to die for thee

#Jesus don't want me for a sunbeam

# Sunbeams are not made like me

# Don't expect me to cry

# For all the reasons you had to die... #

They were very laid-back, very quiet, lovely blokes.

Ancl yet they turned into this other machine when they came onstage,

this new animal.

# Don't expect me to cry

# Don't expect me to lie... #

Nirvana's music and their impact obviously still feels as fresh

and as brilliant as ever.

And, perhaps for that reason, millions of fans around the world

still love Kurt and Nirvana themselves.

Ancl the impact of Nirvana, and just the changes which they made to

the rock music landscape really are still immeasurable, I think.

# Don't expect me to cry

# Don't expect me to lie

# Don't expect me to die for thee... #

One of the great epitaph of both Kurt Cobain and Nirvana

is that there's no question Nirvana caused a lot of kids

to pick up guitars and form rock bands again.

Tens of thousands, if not more, kids scraped together the money

to buy an electric guitar and an amp and create rock and roll music.

# Don't expect me to cry

# For all the reasons you had to die

# Don't ever ask your love of me

# Don't expect me to cry

# Don't expect me to lie

# Don't expect me to die

# Don't expect me to cry

# Don't expect me to lie... #

Yeah, I didn't have a clad, that's horrible!

Ancl I wouldn't wish that upon anybody.

But I also wouldn't change the dynamic of anything in my life,

because it's informed the person I am, and I really like

the person I am.

But she did have the sadness of the loss of her dad

that we got to witness, but she doesn't remember. Yes.

Also, we got to kind of introduce her to who he was... Yes.

"but still...

The real Kurt that we knew, the personal Kurt. Yeah.

SONG ENDS

CHEERING

I'm not worried about it any more.

And I was at the time.

Understandable. Thank you very much.

You're free. Thank you.

MUSIC: The Man Who Sold the World by Nirvana

# Who knows?

# Not me

# We never lost control

# You're face-to-face

# With the man who sold the world... #