Nirvana - Good Morning America Tribute To Kurt Cobain 4/9/94

>>> ON FRIDAY MORNING, THE MUSIC WORLD LOST AN ARCHITECT OF MODERN ROCK, KURT COBAIN, THE LEADER OF THE BAND NIRVANA. HIS BODY WAS FOUND IN AN APARTMENT ABOVE THE GARAGE OF A SEATTLE HOUSE HE OWNED. THE CAUSE OF DEATH -- A SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUND TO THE HEAD. HE WAS 27. LIKE SO MANY FALLEN ROCK STARS BEFORE HIM, COBAIN WASN'T PREPARED FOR THE PRESSURES OF FAME AND FORTUNE, AND ONCE AGAIN, A TRAGIC DEATH ROBS A GENERATION OF WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN ITS MOST DISTINCTIVE VOICE. IN THE 1980'S, POP MUSIC MEANT CATCHY TUNES, SLICK PRODUCTION, AND GLAMOROUS STARS. WHAT NOBODY KNEW WAS THE DISPLACED 20-SOMETHING GENERATION WANTED SOMETHING MORE. UNTIL 1991, THAT IS, WHEN A SEATTLE BAND CALLED NIRVANA HIT IT BIG. >> ♪♪ PUT THE LIGHTS OUT ENTERTAIN US HERE WE ARE NOW ENTERTAIN US ♪♪ >> THEIR ALBUM DISPLACED MICHAEL JACKSON AT THE TOP OF THE CHARTS AND SOLD MORE THAN NINE MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE MUCH THE BAND'S RAW INTENSITY DEFINED A STYLE OF MUSIC, CLOTHING, ATTITUDE CALLED GRUNGE AND PAVED THE WAY FOR OTHER HOT SEATTLE BANDS LIKE SOUND GUARDEN AND PEARL JAM. AND SINGER-SONGWRITER KURT COBAIN BECAME NOT JUST A POP STAR BUT A STANDARD BEARER FOR AN ENTIRE GENERATION. >> NIRVANA OBVIOUSLY HAD SOMETHING TO SAY THAT WAS WORTH SAYING OR THEY WOULDN'T HAVE EVER GOTTEN WHERE THEY HAD GOTTEN. >> IT'S GOING TO BE A BIG LOSS NOT JUST HERE BUT EVERYWHERE. >> ♪♪ EVERYTHING'S MY FAULT ♪♪ >> NOWHERE IS THE LOSS OF KURT COBAIN FELT MORE DEEPLY THAN IN HIS ADOPTED HOMETOWN OF SEATTLE. JOINING ME NOW FROM OUR AFFILIATE KOMO IS PATRICK MCDONALD, ROCK CRITIC FOR "THE SEATTLE TIMES." GOOD MORNING, PATRICK. >> GOOD MORNING. >> NOW, YOU'VE COVERED KURT COBAIN AND NIRVANA FOR YEARS. WHAT DO YOU THINK LED TO THIS? >> WELL, OF COURSE, WE PROBABLY WILL NEVER KNOW WERE CLUES IN HIS MUSIC AND THE INTERVIEWS HE GAVE THAT HE WAS TROUBLED ALL OF HIS LIFE. HE HAD A *** PROBLEM AND OTHER PROBLEMS AS WELL. >> NOW, FOR THOSE OF US LOOKING ON, FROM THE SURFACE, HERE'S A YOUNG MAN WHO'S EXTREMELY TALENTED, HE'S HAD ENORMOUS SUCCESS, A WIFE AND A YOUNG CHILD. OBVIOUSLY, THERE WERE THINGS GOING ON UNDER THE SURFACE. >> THAT'S WHY IT'S ALWAYS MYSTERIOUS, BECAUSE HE DID SEEM TO BE COMING TO TERMS WITH HIS POPULARITY, HE HAD A YOUNG BABY, HE WAS MARRIED. HE SEEMED TO BE ON A GOOD TRACK. IT WAS JUST IN JANUARY THERE WAS A COVER STORY IN "ROLLING STONE," ABOUT HOW HE HAD ACCEPTED HIS STATUS AS A STAR AND WAS EAGER TO MOVE ON. EVERYTHING SEEMED TO LOOK GOOD THEN, AND THAT'S WHY THIS IS SUCH A SHOCK. >> UH-HUH. NOW, THERE WAS A SUICIDE NOTE AT THE SCENE, APPARENTLY. DO WE KNOW WHAT IT SAID? >> ALL THAT WE KNOW FOR SURE IS THE ELECTRICTRICIAN WHO FOUND THE BODY SAID THAT IT ENDED WITH, "I LOVE NEWSPAPER IN SEATTLE REPORTED THAT IT MENTIONED HIS CHILD AND HIS WIFE, BUT THE DETAILS AREN'T KNOWN. >> UH-HUH. NOW, HIS DEATH HAD A GREAT IMPACT, PARTICULARLY ON PEOPLE IN THEIR 20'S. WHY WAS HE SUCH A SYMBOL FOR THE GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE THAT WE CALL GENERATION "X"? >> I THINK HIS LYRICS SPOKE TO SOME OF THE PROBLEMS THAT YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE TODAY. SOME OF THE FEARS, THE UNCERTAINTIES ABOUT THE FUTURE. HE SPOKE TO THOSE THINGS. HE ALSO SPOKE TO PEOPLE WHO WERE MISFITS, OUTCASTS, PERHAPS, THOSE THAT DIDN'T FIT IN. BUT I THINK THE UNIVERSAL THEME THAT A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE IDENTIFIED WITH WAS THIS UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE FUTURE AND THE TROUBLES WE HAVE TODAY. >> UH-HUH. NOW, KURT COBAIN REALLY BECAME AN ICON FOR THIS GENERATION. WAS THAT A ROLE THAT HE TOOK ON EASILY, OR DID IT REALLY WEAR HIM DOWN? >> IT WORE HIM DOWN TERRIBLY. IT -- IT PUT HIM INTO A TAILSPIN AS SOON AS NIRVANA ACHIEVED INTERNATIONAL FAME -- WHICH HAPPENED VERY QUICKLY. THE BAND GROUND TO A HALT. HE WAS VERY TROUBLED ABOUT THIS. THE PRESSURE OF IT WAS JUST TOO MUCH. BUT HE SEEMED TO FINALLY COME TO GRIPS WITH IT. AND THAT'S WHY EVERYONE WONDERS WHAT HAPPENED, WHAT WENT WRONG. >> UH-HUH. NOW, WHILE THE BAND RECEIVED ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF FAME AND ATTENTION, IN TERMS OF THE VOLUME, THEY DIDN'T SELL AS MUCH AS, SAY, MADONNA OR MICHAEL JACKSON. WHY IS KURT COBAIN AND NIRVANA SO IMPORTANT IN THE MUSIC WORLD? >> I THINK KURT COBAIN WAS A TRUE ARTIST. THE WORD ARTIST IS BANDIED AROUND A LOT IN POPULAR MUSIC. IT'S BECOME A GENERIC TERM. I THINK IN THE CLASSIC SENSE HE WAS AN ARTIST. LIKE A LOT OF ARTISTS, HE PROBED THE DARK SIDE, AND THOSE PARTS OF US THAT MOST OF US TRY TO AVOID THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES. AND I THINK THAT THE MUSE THAKE HE LEFT WAS VERY PROFOUND, AND IT WAS POETIC -- IT WAS MYSTERIOUS. IT HAD MANY LAYERS. IT WASN'T JUST POP MUSIC ABOUT CARS AND GIRLS AND OTHER FROTHY SUBJECTS LIKE THAT. IT HAD SUBSTANCE. THAT'S WHY I THINK THAT IT WILL LAST. >> NOW, ROCK 'N' ROLL HISTORY IS PUNCTUATED WITH THE EARLY DEATHS OF SOME OF ITS GREAT ARTISTS LIKE JIMI HENDRIX AND JANIS JOPLIN. DOES KURT COBAIN NOW FALL INTO THIS GROUP? >> WELL, I SUPPOSE, BUT I HOPE THAT HE'S LOOKED UPON AS AN INDIVIDUAL. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S SO FRUSTRATING IS THAT IT SEEMS THAT EACH SUCCEEDING GENERATION HAS TO RELEARN THESE LESSONS ABOUT DRUGS AND ALCOHOL. THERE CERTAINLY ARE SO MANY EXAMPLES THROUGH POP HISTORY. AND YET, THE SAME TRAGEDIES OCCUR OVER AND OVER AGAIN. >> WELL, WE HOPE THAT WITH HIS DEATH THIS IS A LESSON THAT WILL BE LEARNED BY YOUNG PEOPLE. PATRICK MCDONALD, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR JOINING US. >>> WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK AFTER THIS.