Inside Kurt Cobain's wild life – tragic suicide, drugs, heated Courtney Love marriage

Kurt Cobain remains one of the most influential rock stars of all time – but he was just 27 years old when he took his own life.

The Nirvana singer continues to inspire the alternative rockers of our day like Foo Fighters and Biffy Clyro, and he has been etched into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his contribution to music.

However, the grunge rocker sadly entered the so-called 27 club in 1994 when he was found dead at his Lake Washington Boulevard home.

During his life, Kurt sadly suffered from drug abuse, mental health issues and a famously turbulent marriage to Courtney Love.

To honour his birthday today (February 20), Daily Star have taken a closer look at Kurt Cobain’s wild life and tragic death.

Drug abuse

Kurt’s first dalliance with drugs came in 1980 when he was just thirteen years old – and it involved him smoking cannabis.

The iconic singer would go on to take drugs throughout his adult years, regularly using cannabis and going on to take “notable” amounts of LSD, the latter of which is according to his ex-girlfriend Tracy Marander.

His Nirvana bandmate Kurt Novoselic said Kurt was “really into getting f***ed up: drugs, acid, any kind of drug.”

Cobain, who also battled alcoholism and solvent abuse, took heroin for the first time around 1986.

Although he took heroin sporadically for years, he later became hooked on the dangerous drug.

Kurt’s heroin addiction started to spill into the band’s Nevermind tour – with the singer falling asleep multiple times during a photoshoot with photographer Michael Lavine.

He started suffering overdoses that almost killed him – such as the day after his performance on Saturday Night Live in 1992.

His partner Courtney Love had to resuscitate him after he injected a fatal amount of heroin.

In 1993, he suffered another heroin overdose before he was due to go on stage in New York City in July.

Instead of calling an ambulance, Courtney gave Cobain naloxone to make him conscious again, and he even performed on stage that night.

A rock star marriage

Kurt and Courtney Love’s marriage received tons of media attention, and it is still one of the most high-profile romances in modern history.

There are various accounts that disagree on when they first met, but the pair bonded over drug use and spent lots of time together in 1991.

The pair got married in style on February 24 1992 – tying the knot on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, where Kurt famously wore pyjamas as he’d been “too lazy to put on a tux.”

Courtney, the lead vocalist of Hole, got pregnant quickly, and they welcomed their only daughter Frances Bean Cobain in August 1992.

The pair accidentally stirred up a media storm when Love said she used heroin and didn’t know she was pregnant.

She later claimed the Vanity Fair article misquoted her, but Courtney was pursued by reporters afterwards and the Los Angeles Children’s Services took them to court arguing their drug use made them unfit as parents.

The marriage began to unravel, and Love later admitted Kurt attempted suicide in March 1994 because she was thinking about cheating on him.

She said: “I almost did one time, and he knew it. … I have no idea how he knew it. The plan didn’t ever go anywhere. Nothing happened, but… the response to it was he took 67 Rohypnols and ended up in a coma because I thought about cheating on him. I mean, f**k.”

Death

Kurt’s body was discovered by an electrician called Gary Smith on April 8 1994 – the tradesman had arrived to install a security system and initially thought Kurt was sleeping when he first saw him.

A coroner realised the singer had been lying there dead for days, dating his death to be April 5.

A heartbreaking suicide note addressed to his imaginary friend Boddah was found next to Kurt’s body.

It read: “I don’t have the passion anymore, and so remember, it’s better to burn out than to fade away”, which is a lyric from Neil Young’s song My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue).”

He also urged his wife to “please keep going” for their daughter, ending the note: “I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!”

The electrician had found a small amount of blood coming out of Kurt’s ear and no visible signs of trauma – but he found a shotgun pointing at his chin.

The Seattle Police Department reported Kurt had suffered a visible gunshot wound to the head, and it was confirmed that he had committed suicide.

Lots of heroin and traces of diazepam were also found in the singer’s body.

Tragic battles

Shortly before he died, Kurt had tried to take his own life, but he was rescued.

The rocker overdosed on a combination of champagne and Rohypnol in Rome, but Courtney found him the next morning so he was rushed to hospital.

He had been diagnosed with bronchitis and severe laryngitis whilst on a tour stop in Germany, so Kurt had jetted off to Rome to undergo treatment.

On March 18, he Seattle Police department received a phone call from Love telling them her husband was suicidal and had locked himself in a room with a gun.

Police arrived on the scene and confiscated several guns and drugs from Kurt, but he insisted he wasn’t suicidal and had locked himself in the room to hide from her.

In a desperate bid to save Kurt from his fatal drug habit, Love held an intervention for him on March 25.

Initially, Kurt was livid and locked himself in the upstairs bedroom, but he later agreed to go in for a detox programme.

The last time he ever saw his daughter was at the Exodus Recovery Center in Los Angeles on March 30 – when he spoke to counsellors about his drug addiction and played with his daughter Frances.

For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.

For more of the latest showbiz news from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk