Kurt Cobain on Sexuality, Irish Heritage, Punk Rock in Rare Animated Q&A
On July, 22, 1993, less than a year before his death, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sat down with British rock journalist Jon Savage in New York City. The two discussed a variety of subjects, from Cobain's high school bullying, sexuality and self-image to his discovery of punk rock, settling down with Courtney Love and beyond.
PBS' Blank on Blank series brought Cobain's interview to life via an animated clip, illustrating his struggles in sketch drawings. It's an interesting and new view into the life of Cobain, perhaps the most scrutinized rock star ever, almost 20 years after his suicide.
"I felt they'd vote me 'Most Likely to Kill Everyone at a High School Dance,'" Kurt joked of his youth in Aberdeen, Washington in the Q&A, as an animation shows him walking the school's halls. "Because I couldn't find any male friends I ended up hanging out with girls a lot... I even thought that I was gay. I thought that might be the solution to my problem."
He goes in depth on his well-documented stomach and back pains, discovery of punk and new life with Love. But one less-documented anecdote is about Cobain's interest in his family's ancestry. He says he called other Cobain families in the phone book until he discovered a woman in San Francisco who insisted the Cobain Clan originated in County Cork, Ireland.
"[It's] a weird coincidence because when we toured we played in Cork and the entire day I walked around in a daze," says Cobain, a sketch of the young rocker walking the nation's green hills onscreen. "I'd never felt more spiritual in my life. I was almost in tears the whole day. It was the weirdest thing."
Watch above, and check out other Blank on Blank video segments featuring rare or lost interviews with Jim Morrison, James Brown and the Beastie Boys.
1h 41m
1m
6m
20m
21m
13s
1h 3m
21m
20m
20m
1m
59m
40m
46m
44m
41m
20m
2m
2m
2m
1h 27m
51s
51s
54s
22m
3m
1h 38m
2m
20m
9m
46m
10m
20m
1m
9m
18m
2m
44m
44m
20m
20m
44m
1h 13m
43m
21m
1m
1m
3m
1m
1m
22m
22m
21m
44m
45m
20m
41m
22m
23m
46m
1m
24m
1h 16m
41m
45m
4m
30s
41m
20m
21m
1h 39m
47m
22m
20m
1m
24m
1m
20m
43m
21m
1h 25m
1h 42m
20m
20m
1m
24m
22m
1h 5m
1h 11m
20m
21m
44m
20m
22m
21m
21m
22m
1m