Everyone knows that Kurt Cobain passed away in April of 1994. But what this presupposes is (once again), maybe he didn’t. What if we didn’t tragically lose Kurt Cobain on that rainy (I’m assuming) Seattle Spring day, at the frankly cliche and obvious age of 27. THIS is that history. The entirely fabricated story of Nirvana that we never knew.
March 31, 1994: Having sprung himself from an LA detox facility, Kurt Cobain fortuitously finds himself seated next to Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan on a flight to Seattle (on the now-defunct Northwest Airlines; Business Class, given the last-minute ticket purchase). Duff suggests they go jam when they land. Kurt initially demurs, but McKagan, sensing Cobain’s despair, catches up with him at the airport Starbucks and insists he join, refusing to take no for answer. At McKagan’s mother’s house in the University District, they’re joined by Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard and Mark Arm of Mudhoney, and they play until the morning. Feeling something perhaps akin to divine intervention, Kurt leaves a changed man, and would enter an unprecedented stretch of sobriety.
May 18, 1994: Nirvana re-enters Robert Lang Studios in Seattle to complete the track “You Know You’re Right” (only needing Pat Smear’s guitar and some backing vocals), as well as recording a new song, “Airplane Toilet.” Despite the productive and generally positive session, the group agrees to take an indefinite hiatus, confirming their fans’ worst fears that their previously postponed European tour would, indeed, not be rescheduled.
Summer 1994: After Courtney Love completes her own rehab stint in Los Angeles, Kurt reunites with Love and their daughter Frances Bean, spending the summer in the Hollywood Hills. It’s said to be a mostly pleasant time, although the cracks in their relationship remain. Meanwhile, Dave Grohl schedules studio time at Robert Lang Studios and quickly records an 8-track demo. Despite being satisfied with the tracks, Grohl fears disrupting band relations during the hiatus and decides not to share the songs. Krist Novoselic summers in Zadar, Croatia, returning to the states at the end of August to campaign for Libertarian Richard Rider, who ran unsuccessfully for the California Governorship.
November 1, 1994: Verse Chorus Verse is released in the United States. The double album consists of a set of live performances on one disc and the band’s MTV Unplugged performance on the other, plus the two new songs from the Robert Lang Sessions. Grohl later recalls that choosing the songs for the live album was somewhat acrimonious, but “reminded us of what we do best, and, more importantly, why we do it.” Critics especially appreciated how Side A captures the bands unique energy and rawness, and while they praised the band for branching out on MTV Unplugged, many found their acoustic sound inauthentic and strained, especially the cover songs. This half of the album, however, would later grow to become a cult classic.
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Jumped The Snark 