27 by Gene Simmons

Author:Gene Simmons
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: powerHouse Books
Published: 2018-07-12T16:00:00+00:00

Kurt

Cobain

1967 – 1994

“Holding my baby is the best drug in the world. We have a lot of young fans and I don’t want to have anything to do with inciting drug use. People who promote drug use are assholes. I chose to do drugs. I don’t feel sorry for myself at all, but have nothing good to say about them. They are a total waste of time.”

-KURT COBAIN169

Kurt

Cobain

Kurt Cobain is arguably the most oft-referenced name when the subject of the 27 club comes up, a figure that fans hold up as emblematic of romanticized tragedy and the “tortured artist.” He is often credited with that famous quotable of all quotables, “It is better to burn out than fade away,” from his suicide note (though this quote was actually a Neil Young lyric).170 Cobain’s death made almost as many waves as his music, because his rise and fall seemed to correspond with the genesis and demise of grunge’s moment in history, and of a particular generation’s point of view. Whereas other subgenres of rock can be debated, grunge has a single undisputed figurehead, and that is Cobain.

In 1993, we were putting together an album of artists that wanted to cover KISS songs, just for the fun of it. Garth Brooks (b.1962), Lenny Kravitz (b.1964), Stevie Wonder (b.1950), and quite a few others joined in. Of course, by the time the various record companies that had exclusive rights to these artists got wind of it, there were restrictions thrown at us. But we got by.

I had heard a bootleg, a fan-made KISS tribute album, and among one of the covers was none other than Nirvana doing a wonderfully trashy, punk take on our song, “Do You Love Me.” And I thought it was great. Even being tongue-in-cheek, even as it poked fun at us—the old school macho rockers that were at the time the natural enemy of the grunge movement, which I can appreciate—it was undeniably great.

The 90s were a period of transition. Bands that had been around a long time were swept away by bands that were playing punk-inspired rock without the fancy production. Nirvana made the biggest impact in that regard. There is no denying that their songwriting and musical talent was top notch.

So I decided to try to track the boys down and ask them to be on our cover album. I never use managers or agents to look people up or make my phone calls for me—I just dive into the deep end of the pool. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but the interactions are always interesting.

One thing to note here is Nirvana’s, and particularly Cobain’s, penchant for practical jokes. His close friend Buzz Osbourne called Cobain, “A master at jerking your chain.”171 So keep that in mind.

I recall that the phone line wasn’t all that clear on the day I called Kurt Cobain, but I got through. Cobain and I were talking, and I have to admit I was surprised and flattered by how nice he seemed.

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