What if Kurt Cobain hadnt killed himself?

Motley Crue

Ive always taught about this, and just wondered, what would have happened if Kurt Cobain hadnt commited sucide in April 1994. Any thoughts? I mean, in terms of the music industry, celebrity status for rock stars in general, and the popularity of Hole?

gustavo

I think he would have probably went solo at some stage , I know he was planning on collaborating with Michael Stipe .

MagnumForce

Motley Crue wrote:

Ive always taught about this, and just wondered, what would have happened if Kurt Cobain hadnt commited sucide in April 1994. Any thoughts? I mean, in terms of the music industry, celebrity status for rock stars in general, and the popularity of Hole?

Option One: he would have released one or two more nirvana Albums, than gone solo and went more and more commercial before fading away

Option Two: he would have OD'ed

Option Three: I would have killed him instead

Merrick

I think he would have tried a solo career, then burnt out and lost everything before ODing. The music industry in general wouldn't have been affected too much because everyone would have gotten sick of Nirvana anyway.

pbsuxok1znja4r

Who?


I remember a year or two ago the paper at my college did a short, humourous exploration of this hypothesis, whereby it was instead Billy Corgan who died, thus gaining an even more legendary status and success, while Cobain simply faded away into the abyss of talentlessness.

Autobot Killa

He would've dissapeared regardless. Even if he didnt kill himself, he would have become a recluse somewhere...

he would have faded away!

pbsuxok1znja4r

Funnily enough, Cobain's life has actually had zero impact on mine. I never listened to Nirvana. None of my mates listened to Nirvana. I'm pretty sure none of the bands I listen to are influenced by Nirvana. So either way he gets a big 'meh' from me.

Crucifix

I think Family Guy had a sketch somewhere in this vein which cracked me up.

Secretpint

"and remember say no to drugs"

sure if Kurt hadnt of died maybe we would have no Foo Fighters its a beautiful thought to me

JIZZLORD

he had all the makings of a tragic rock icon, where as i personally think he's over rated, you dont see moping teens wearing hoodies that say "Mozart- January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791".

John

JIZZLORD wrote:

he had all the makings of a tragic rock icon, where as i personally think he's over rated, you dont see moping teens wearing hoodies that say "Mozart- January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791".

I think I might just make such a hoodie!

If Cobain didn't commit suicide there would be more albums out that I wouldn't listen to (I reckon Grohl would eventually have formed a band regardless).

Gone West

John wrote:

I think I might just make such a hoodie!

If Cobain didn't commit suicide there would be more albums out that I wouldn't listen to (I reckon Grohl would eventually have formed a band regardless).

make 2.
I'll take one.

really.

John

I'll get back to you on that. Really.

Zombienosh

Nirvana wouldn't have been an overrated band, just a crap one.

evad_lhorg

coolsmileygirl wrote:

he would have faded away!

ooh I see it.... dont worry.

tj-music.com

Motley Crue wrote:

Ive always taught about this, and just wondered, what would have happened if Kurt Cobain hadnt commited sucide in April 1994. Any thoughts? I mean, in terms of the music industry, celebrity status for rock stars in general, and the popularity of Hole?

Nirvana were great, no doubt, but by no means should they be up there at the cult circles just because Cobain killed himself.

Beekay

There would have been no slayer!simple as that!

John

Beekay wrote:

There would have been no slayer!simple as that!

MagnumForce

Well, tbh, we wouldn't have this thread. And all these arguments, (What if Jimi, Janis, Jim, etc... had lived) are facetious because we never will know, if these legends could have amounted to anything in the end. But what I have problems with are the following:

MagnumForce wrote:

Option One: he would have released one or two more nirvana Albums, than gone solo and went more and more commercial before fading away

Option Two: he would have OD'ed

Option Three: I would have killed him instead

You are a musician yourself. Without Nirvana we wouldn't have the same opening for alternative music as there is now. Before Nevermind, what were we listening to? (I refer to option three)

scouser.tommy wrote:

Who?
I remember a year or two ago the paper at my college did a short, humourous exploration of this hypothesis, whereby it was instead Billy Corgan who died, thus gaining an even more legendary status and success, while Cobain simply faded away into the abyss of talentlessness.

I believe you are a troll, so I won't rise to your bait

JIZZLORD wrote:

he had all the makings of a tragic rock icon, where as i personally think he's over rated, you dont see moping teens wearing hoodies that say "Mozart- January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791".

Yeah, but Mozart died when he was 35. Thats so not the magic 27 is it?

AlcoholicA wrote:

Nirvana wouldn't have been an overrated band, just a crap one.

And I'll accept your point bar the fact that there are so many bands we now know because of Nirvana. Screaming trees, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains et al. After Nirvana "Made the money" the majors (or at least indies with major backing) took an interest in a phenomenally burgeoning underground scene.
The first time I heard of Leadbelly was through Nirvana. And I'll always thank them for that.

But back to the original topic...

What if Kurt Cobain hadn't killed himself?
We don't know. And never will. I was in third year when it happened and will never forget the moment I found out. The fact is he did. Which is why we probably still talk about him. Maybe because we want to know what else lay in is his mind and whether he could ever match our expectations. What would have happened to Jimi, Janis, Jim etc... had have lived?

il gatto

I was 17 when Kurt Cobaine died, and to be honest I didn't care. Papa Smut, before Nevermind we were listening to the Pixies, Sonic Youth, MC5, the Ramones and Iggy and the Stooges, just like Kurt Cobaine was. A couple of catchy tunes, memorable production and a bit of attitude wasn't amazing at the time and hasn't improved with age. There was a trawl of Grunge-alike bands that got on the gravy train, even though, if grunge could properly be defined, they probably weren't it (Soundgarden,Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots et al).
If he'd lived, I think he'd run out of ideas really quickly and all but vanish off the fame radar. Best thing I can remember about Nirvana was when Chris Novaselik said something to Slash at the MTV awards and Slash hit him over the head with a Les Paul. That was the same year Novaselik threw his bass in the air and it hit him on the head and he was concussed.

Mr Moon

Motley Crue wrote:

Ive always taught about this, and just wondered, what would have happened if Kurt Cobain hadnt commited sucide in April 1994.

I would've seen them play their concert in the point!

s8n

Mr Moon wrote:

I would've seen them play their concert in the point!

I think you mean the RDS ??

Doctor J

At the core of it all, Nirvana were just a ****ing good rock band, something that seems to get lost in all the ****e that sadly accompanies every media saturated mention of the band. Man, I remember the first time I heard them, on the TV show Raw Power I think it was, in between the Poison and Tigertailz (look them up and you'll understand why Nirvana were a breath of fresh air at the time) videos, there was a little interview with the three scruffy bastards (again, look up Tigertailz) sitting there saying "Don't buy our album, tape it off a friend" which made me laugh and then Smells Like Teen Spirit came on.

It blew me away.

It was so different to what was predominant at the time. It was real music. Perhaps hindsight has coloured how people look upon it now, but for me, hearing it at the time with all the ****, real **** music that was around, it was a revelation. It's been trendy to love them and hate them at various stages, but at the end of the day they were just a simple rock band who got caught up in the mainstream and became fodder for the likes of ****ing Hello magazine and their ilk which, in truth, they never wanted to happen and were never comfortable with. When they got big, it really was on the strength of the music. Geffen pressed only 50,000 copies of the album initially. They didn't push it, they didn't expect it to sell. As a result of thier unexpected success, people tend to get too caught up on the media aspect of it, focusing on the personality of Cobain and his private life instead of the music, which is the part that matters. He wrote some catchy rock songs and the songs were played by a good rock band, it's that simple. They weren't really revolutionary as a band but they were a revolution, believe me. Good music in a time of overproduced, formulaic image driven nothingness. Good music. All the other stuff is irrelevant.

As to the where would they be now part... I just think it's ****ing tragic that anybody reaches a point in their life where they feel the need to kill themselves, regardless of their talent or level of public exposure. The guy had a child. That is just tragic. I can't speculate on how the world would be, it's as irrelevant as all the other **** that surrounds the band.

Ph3n0m

s8n wrote:

I think you mean the RDS ??

Nope Nirvana played the point in 1991 as far as I remember

Doctor J

Weren't they scheduled to play the RDS very near to the time that he died?

Ph3n0m

Doctor J wrote:

Weren't they scheduled to play the RDS very near to the time that he died?

yup 1994, in fact it was literally a few days after he topped himself they were scheduled to play.....didnt get my money back

MagnumForce

Papa Smut wrote:

You are a musician yourself. Without Nirvana we wouldn't have the same opening for alternative music as there is now. Before Nevermind, what were we listening to? (I refer to option three)

firstly, there were plenty of bands which opened up the way for alternative music, such bands appear all of the time, if Nirvana hadnt existed then it would have been another band, anyway the hypothosis isnt about what it would be like if Nirvana hadnt existed at all, so your point is fairly invalid.

And yeah im a musician but im in no way influenced by Kurt Cobains music, i had my little phase when i was like 13/14 but i snapped out of it a few months later when my cousin gave me tapes of KISS, Whitesnake and W.A.S.P. and i realised, jesus why the hell was i listening to that Nirvana crap, this is so much better! im only 20 now so i wasnt really keyed into the music scene in 1994 when i was eight, i listened to whatever was in the house (a mixture of soft rock from the eighties from my dad, and then current pop from my sisters) so at the time i didnt even know Nirvana existed really.

Dragan

Sorry folks, but Terry Pratchett said it best in "Soul Music".

I suggest you read that and it is all the "what if XYZ never died" question answered.

MagnumForce

Dragan wrote:

Sorry folks, but Terry Pratchett said it best in "Soul Music".

I suggest you read that and it is all the "what if XYZ never died" question answered.

Ive read it but unfortunatly cant remember anything about it, except the "Music With Rock In". and im not a fan of reading books more than once, give me the jist to remind me there

phasers

to be honest,he did more for himself committing suicide than he ever did with his music.
I like nirvana,but they are extremely overrated.
he ould be a nobody somewhere,perhaps Dave Grohl's butler?