{"id":8732,"date":"2024-04-18T17:01:15","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T14:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=8732"},"modified":"2024-04-18T17:01:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T14:01:15","slug":"kurt-cobain-is-still-shaping-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/?p=8732","title":{"rendered":"Kurt Cobain is still shaping culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

By Howard Monk<\/p>\n

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Thirty years since his death in April 1994, the impact of Kurt Cobain and his band, Nirvana, and their values, still resonates in today\u2019s culture and music.
\nNirvana was everywhere at the start of the 1990s, much like Taylor Swift\u2019s omnipresence today. But unlike Swift, who has embraced and mastered the business side of her fame, Cobain was very much the anti-superstar of his time.
\nWhile Nirvana was certainly at the very top of the industry, headlining sold-out festivals, Cobain clearly felt uncomfortable being in the corporate music business. He expressed this discomfort in many ways, from merchandise emblazoned with the words \u201ccorporate rock whores\u201d to his rows with MTV and journalists. No Swift-style media savvy slickness here.
\nSince 2010, the person responsible for Cobain\u2019s name and image rights has been his daughter, Frances Bean Cobain. Nirvana LLC, meanwhile, is managed by a team including original band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic.
\nThese rights are expertly managed and controlled in a way that benefits from hindsight, showing an understanding of what Nirvana stood for which would scarce have been possible when the band was active, or Cobain still alive.
\nI\u2019ve often said that Nirvana was the last band to reach the very top on its own terms. It didn\u2019t hurt that they embodied the rags-to-riches type stories the press love so much. Cobain had an unhappy childhood and his art was a solace while he worked shifts as a janitor, relying on his girlfriend to fund his band.
\nCobain\u2019s relationship with fellow musician Courtney Love also attracted a lot of snide celebrity journalism attention, as did his struggles with his mental health and addiction. Looking back at some of the supposedly supportive headlines of the time, it is clear how the press perpetuated myths and heaped pressure onto an already vulnerable Cobain.
\nToday it\u2019s not at all uncommon for artists to cancel or postpone shows and tours to protect their own mental health. Fans no longer tend to see this admission as weakness.
\nCobain\u2019s death by suicide paved the way for the press and fans alike to discuss the mental health of musicians in a more serious way.
\nIt is important to note that his final couple of years saw Cobain battle addiction and depression. Working with him would clearly have been a lot of fun, and yet very difficult. For the five to six years that Nirvana shined, they shined very brightly. And it has to be said, they rocked. Their music was simple, no frills, rock and roll.
\nThat the band didn\u2019t tour with Guns N\u2019 Roses in 1992 may be a blessing for purists. Nirvana\u2019s music was an authentic antidote to the hair metal which had dominated rock music in the few years prior. Cobain took time off with illness while they were supposed to be on that tour. In reality, Courtney Love states in the 2015 documentary Cobain: Montage of Heck, he just wanted to \u201cstay and home and shoot up\u201d.
\nThe band\u2019s influence on fashion can also still be felt. Particularly in the proliferation of blokes wearing dresses in heavy rock bands like Idles, as Cobain often did on stage.
\nThe iconic \u2018Flower Sniffin\u2019, Kitty Pettin\u2019, Baby Kissin\u2019, Corporate Rock Whores\u2019 band T-shirt, now sells for over \u00a32,000. But in recent years, Nirvana LLC has granted rights to print new merchandise to several affordable brands, in keeping with Cobain\u2019s anti-elitist values.
\nBrand Nirvana today is clear on its values. It is hard not to believe that Cobain would have something to say about today\u2019s identity politics (Cobain once declared he was \u201cgay in spirit and \u2026 probably could be bisexual\u201d and called himself a feminist). A man for our times, in his times, so to speak.
\nAs an expert in the music industry (particularly the indie side), it is clear to me that Cobain would remain a marketer\u2019s dream in 2024. Thankfully, the custodians of the Cobain brand continue to advance and protect his thoughts and ideas long after his tragic death at just 27.<\/p>\n

Howard Monk is Senior Teaching Fellow, Music Management, University of Southampton. This article is republished from The\u00a0Conversation under a Creative Commons licence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fact: Kurt Cobain and his band Nirvana’s impact and values still resonate in today’s culture and music, 30 years after his death in April 1994.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,302,5936,5057,3346,186,1240,303,3,2692,5118,6626,763,6943,250,3330,210,1991,3755,7004,1394,6653,2952,3356,1946,699,7006,2723,3331,7005,301,3775,1812,6928,934,886,5044,618,6305],"class_list":["post-8732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-art","tag-article","tag-artists","tag-baby","tag-business","tag-clear","tag-culture","tag-cyprus","tag-death","tag-documentary","tag-fans","tag-fashion","tag-festivals","tag-google","tag-google-news","tag-health","tag-industry","tag-journalists","tag-kurt-cobain","tag-man","tag-management","tag-media","tag-mental-health","tag-monk","tag-music","tag-music-culture","tag-musicians","tag-news","tag-nirvana","tag-politics","tag-pressure","tag-rights","tag-six","tag-suicide","tag-taylor-swift","tag-teaching","tag-top","tag-who"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\nKurt Cobain is still shaping culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nirvana. 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