April 5th: The Day Grunge Died


Grunge music was a subgenre of rock that began in the early 90’s, predominantly in Seattle, Washington. The British/American punk movement of the 70’s and 80’s inspired grunge. With the majority of the music in this genre coming from Seattle, the city took on the role of being the genre’s hometown. In 1991, grunge exploded into the main stream with the release of several of grunge’s biggest albums including Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger, Pearl Jam’s Ten, and Nirvana’s Nevermind. I was first introduced to grunge when I listened to the album Ten by Pearl Jam. I remember I was about 10 or 11 years old, and my dad started playing it in the car after I had heard Pearl Jam’s song Even Flow on Guitar Hero 3. I quickly grew to love the album, and later continued to listen to more Pearl Jam until I was immersed in their music and the guitar parts and lyrics were etched into my memory. I didn’t listen to Nirvana until I was about 14. I didn’t understand what the big hype was over Nirvana, and didn’t understand why they were bigger than Pearl Jam. I understood after listening to Nevermind for the first time. From there I listened to all the different grunge groups, and found myself in love with the music. The more I listened, the more I learned about the artists I was listening to. In the past year I’ve listened to almost all of the music of my favorite grunge groups, and I’ve learned the band’s stories. Grunge isn’t around anymore, at least not how it used to be. Pearl Jam stayed together, but their music today is more mainstream rock and acoustic than grunge. Soundgarden still tours from time to time, but it’s not the same. In my opinion, there are several reasons grunge died, but none are as obvious as the events that occurred on April 5th, 1994 and 2002. On both of those days, the same date eight years apart; grunge lost two of its most important, brilliant, and troubled artists. On April 5th Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Layne Staley of Alice in Chains both died, and they dragged grunge along with them.

A basic similarity between the two artists is that they both made the same type of music, from the same town and died the same way. However, they shared a much larger and more devastating similarity; they were both haunted by severe heroin addictions.

Around the time Nirvana was releasing their first album in 1990 titled, Bleach, Kurt Cobain had begun a deadly habit with heroin. Cobain had had troubles growing up, suffering through his parent’s divorce at a young age, being targeted for bullying. He had a rough upcoming. Cobain turned to music and drugs as a source of comfort. He was an avid fan of Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, and also loved many anonymous folk artists. As he grew older, he fell in love with the punk genre, and found a calling. Around the same time in his early teens, he had begun experimenting with marijuana. As he grew older, he had to deal with a chronic stomach condition, which caused him severe pain and uncomfort. Sadly, he turned to heroin as a solution. By the time Cobain died in ’94, his addiction was in full swing. He had been quoted by his mother as being so immersed in his habit, that he admitted to her he was addicted to inserting the syringe in his arm. His wife, Courtney Love, also battled with a serious heroin addiction, which lead to lots of problems for the couple when the news broke out. Similarly to Cobain’s upbringings, Layne Staley of Alice in Chains had suffered through his parent’s divorce. Influenced by his father’s drug use, Staley also turned to drugs and eventually became addicted to heroin as well. Nirvana stayed away from discussing Cobain’s drug issues in their music. Cobain had said in an interview that he didn’t make songs about his problems because he didn’t want to inspire fans to try the drug. Alice in Chains took another approach however. Staley wrote several amazing but graphic songs, which depicted the depravity of his heroin addiction as a warning to fans. These include songs such as Sickman, Junkhead, Dirt and God Smack. The severity of these artists addictions eventually caught up with both of them. Both bands, Nirvana and Alice in Chains, had trouble making music with both of their leads caught up in depression and drug addictions. After Alice in Chains’ third album was released the band became almost non-existent. Staley isolated himself for years to come. His body was found on April 19th, 2002 after having been dead for many days. The autopsy showed he died of an overdose brought on by heroin and cocaine. Although Staley’s life was brought to end by his own bad decisions, a brilliant artist had been left behind. Alice in Chains’ music is some of the best in all of grunge. Their album Dirt is a masterpiece, as is their first album Facelift. The brilliance of the band can be heard in hits such as Man in the Box, Bleed the Freak, Rooster, and Rain When I Die. Staley’s death was tragic, and truly marked the end of grunge. But eight years earlier, the leader of the grunge movement died in one of the most alarming and sudden tragedies in all of rock music.

On April 8th, 1994 Kurt Cobain’s body was found. He had been missing for several days after leaving a rehab center where he was receiving help for his heroin addiction. On April 5th, he lost his life. Now there are many conspiracies surrounding the death of Kurt Cobain. Some believe someone hired by his wife Courtney Love murdered him. The common conclusion to how Kurt Cobain died however is suicide. Cobain had been very troubled. He was a brilliant artist who had lots of demons, including severe depression, brought on by his drug use and his personal life. In my opinion, Kurt Cobain is one of the most brilliant artists to have ever lived. His music and the passion he put into it is some of the most inspiring and amazing art ever invented. He is without a doubt the leader of the grunge movement. It saddens me that his life was taken so early. At the age of 27, Cobain committed suicide by a shotgun blast to the head. Even in his end, Cobain died in despair. He left behind a suicide note and a cigar box full of heroin paraphernalia; but saddest of all he left behind a generation of fans who loved him.

For those reading this article who don’t understand why I wrote about two artists who were plagued with despair, this is where I’ll explain myself. After I first started listening to Nirvana, I found myself trapped. For me, Nirvana was better than my original favorite, Pearl Jam, and was quite honestly the greatest band of all time. For me, Nirvana is up there with the greats such as Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. I’ve listened to every song from Bleach, Nevermind, Insecticide, In Utero and MTV Unplugged too many times. I love the music, and as I got more immersed into it, I was more intrigued by Cobain. The same happened to me with Alice in Chains, and I found myself intrigued by Layne Staley. I wrote this article on the anniversary of their deaths as a reminder and a celebration of two amazing and inspiring artists. To understand them and the anger and passion in their music, you have to understand them and what they went through. It’s also a caution tale about two amazing people who lost their lives young because of drugs and depression. Today marks the 22nd anniversary of Cobain’s death, and the 14th anniversary of Staley’s. If they had lived on, more great music would have been made and grunge would have survived. These legends will be remembered for their brilliance and passion. Today is April 5th, the day grunge died. LS

Layne Staley, Lead Singer of Alice in Chains

KC

Kurt Cobain, MTV Unplugged 1993