I’ve accepted the consensus that he was in terrible distracting physical pain.

But yeah, I prefer the story that he was wracked when he considered his role in creating the future of muzak-like “indy rock”!

He was crazy.

I think that he suffered with mental illness such as bi-polar disorder that may not have been diagnosed, or if it was diagnosed, he was not properly medicated for one reason or another.

Guess what, there are other ways of avoiding becoming “commercial” than suicide. You can divorce your crazy wife, take what’s left of your “commercial” earnings, retire from the “commercial” record industry and go live in a small town in North Dakota. A few million should allow you to live a noncommercial life and make all the music you want.

The fact is Kurt Cobain was clinically depressed and it was made worse by drugs which not only temporarily masked his problem but eventually contributed to it.

He might not be dead today if the people closest to him cared more for the man than for the celebrity and if his fans did not lionize him for his illness and his lethal lifestyle.

Then again he might have killed himself anyway.

Kurt died because it was his time… The impact his death had on the world and still continues to have on the world was necessary. People lived because he died.

More likely the glorification of the death of a sad little man has encouraged other sad little people to follow his example leaving a legacy of grief, loss, guilt and pain for their loved ones.

If your father, brother or son put a bullet in his head, you wouldn’t be thinking him a hero, you would be asking the unanswerable…

I was thinking about this just the other day, I thought out of great pain was supposed to come great songs! It’s too bad he didn’t/couldn’t properly channel his suffering into helping others with music. I know I’D love to hear some songs that would make me feel like I’m not the only one suffering from pressure sometimes.

HAhahah Bunkin. I think you’re being a little dramatic. People lived because he died?? Yeah? What does that even mean?

I’m sure it had nothing to do with his music, or music in general. He was just depressed, which may or may not have been amplified by drug usage. It’s not glamorous or idealistic, it’s just what happens to thousands of people every year when they are in a bad way and don’t get help.

I agree with Maverick. At the time, it was said that he suffered from major depression. Depressed people frequently commit suicide.

he realized that he sucked and became what he hated, and then he shot himself, making him the perfect man for every teen to adore

Heroin.

I’d have to agree with your theory. I think he felt trapped.

To be no-no-notorious!

He realized how much his music really sucks.

I’m one of the crazy people who believes he was murdered. I thought he was some mad junkie who couldn’t handle life, until I read a casebook by some guy called Tom Grant. He was the private detective hired by Courtney Love to find Kurt when he went missing a few days before he was found dead. Reading his casebook convinced me Kurt didn’t kill himself. It makes an interesting read, so yer if you get the chance read that and see what you think.

@jamar, I forgot all about that guy. I heard him on the radio once and his case was pretty compelling.

unremitting depression

Depression – that’ll do it every time.

I read somewhere that he had an extremely painful and chronic stomach condition. That, drugs and serious depression is my guess. Sad story, indeed.

I appreciate all of the responses that reference depression; yes, ultimately, it was depression. But even those with very serious mental illness have reason. Yes, the reason comes from impaired thinking, but there are reasons nonetheless.

Sometimes it has to do with unresolved past issues but sometimes there is a genetic or brain chemistry problem. Most often it is a combination of several things.

I’m with jamjar. I’m skeptical of it being labeled suicide. The details surrounding Cobain’s death are compelling and are worth a read. The more I found out, the less I felt it was suicide. I think he was killed.

i think fame is just about the ugliest thing in the world, and could have been enough to bring to the surface any problems that may not have been such big problems before. of course, he could have/probably had depression prior to his fame, but i think being known so widely can do so much more harm than good especially if he was killed, but i don’t know much about it

Drugs drugs drugs drugs drugs drugs drugs drugs drugs

Oh and drugs.

I sure hope that it wasn’t Weird Al to Yankovic making a parody of “Smells like Teen Spirit” into “Smells like Nirvana”?