Vernon Reif, a member of Living Color, saw Cobain as a crucial member of the music community, “Cobain changed the course of where the music went […] There are certain people where you can see the axis of musical history twisting on them: Hendrix was pivotal, Prince was pivotal, Cobain was pivotal” (musicroom.com). From early on, Cobain’s family knew he was a performer. He first showed attraction to music at age two. Since his aunt was a musician, she introduced Cobain to many of his early influences such as The Beatles and the Monkees. Before his junior year of high school, Cobain saw his first punk rock concert, and he claimed he was “instantly converted” (McDougall 30). Despite the fact that he was as lost as any teenager in this day and age is, Cobain knew he would …show more content…
He screamed out his feelings of neglect and sadness in his time with Nirvana to the day he died. This encouraged teens to express themselves in their own, different ways. When Cobain was eight years old, his parents got divorced. This took an enormous toll on the rest of Cobain’s childhood as well as his high school years. He did not get along with his new stepfather, and he also had issues with both of his parents. He became more reclusive as his home life became less stable and more stressful. As Cobain began his high school years, he became addicted to drugs, and he isolated himself from the other students. After Cobain’s parents’ divorce, Cobain went back and forth from living with various relatives to being homeless and living under a bridge. One week before his graduation of high school, Cobain dropped out because of his constant moving around and lack of concern for his education. He lived on his own until he eventually formed Nirvana and was discovered (McDougall, 29-33). In the future, as Nirvana got to be more popular, they also began to tour more, which took a huge toll on Cobain and his health.
At this point in time, Cobain had been addicted to drugs for years, and his health was depleting quickly. In an issue of Rolling Stone, Cobain informs readers, "All drugs are a waste of time. [...] They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that goes along with your self-esteem. They make you feel good...,