The creators of Last Days, an eagerly-anticipated opera about a grunge stars final days, insist its really about how society treats its icons.
LONDON Onstage at the Royal Opera House here last Friday, the actor Agathe Rousselle pulled a huge, furry green coat over her head as four singers swarmed around her, demanding money and favors.
Rousselle was rehearsing Last Days, a new opera in which she plays out the final hours in the life of Blake, a rock star reminiscent of Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the grunge band Nirvana who died by suicide in 1994. Rousselle was also wearing the style of vintage white sunglasses Cobain made famous (NYT)
According to the Guardian, the production is titled Last Days and it is being adapted from Gus Van Sant's 2005 film of the same name, which itself was loosely inspired by Cobain's passing. While the film centered on a young Seattle-based musician named Blake, the storyline is reminiscent of Cobain's death. (Loudwire)
The Royal Opera House reports that the opera, composed by Oliver Leith, "plunges into the torment that created a modern myth," with the central character "haunted by objects, visitors and memories distracting him from his true purpose - self destruction."
Leith told The Guardian that he was a "massive" Nirvana fan and that their music "soundtracked my teens. It's some of the first music I learned to play on guitar. I owe a lot of how I make music to the sound of grunge from that time. I had never really thought about where my experimental mess and repetitions had come from."
Conspiracy theories over Cobain’s death were widespread despite earlier suicide attempts, a history of drug use and a rambling suicide note. Excerpts were read by his wife, the punk singer Courtney Love, at a vigil in Seattle after his body was found, attended by thousands of fans. (Guardian)
The FBI has released its archived records related to late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, as Rolling Stone points out. The 10-page file contains letters from two individuals who asked the bureau to investigate the rockstar’s 1994 death by suicide, believing foul play to have been involved. “The police who took up the case were never very serious in investigating it as a murder,” one of the individuals wrote.
The other letter, dated September 24, 2003, reads, “I believe a great injustice might have been committed in the case of Kurt Cobain.” Later, the person wrote, “I’m writing you in hopes for your help to press for a reexamination of Mr. Cobain’s death. Millions of fans around the world would like to see the inconsistencies surrounding the death cleared up once and for all. It is sad to think that an injustice of this nature can be allowed in the United States.”
The FBI file also contains several letters that the bureau sent back to individuals, informing them that the FBI does not necessarily have the jurisdiction to investigate a potential homicide. “In order for the FBI to initiate an investigation of any complaint we receive, specific facts must be present to indicate that a violation of federal law within our investigative jurisdiction has occurred,” all three responses read.
Here’s the FBI website with Kurt Cobain Dossier
The file closes with a fax that Cosgrove/Meurer Productions sent to the FBI in January 1997. CMP is the company behind the documentary series Unsolved Mysteries, which aired an episode about Cobain in February 1997. The fax reads, “At least one investigator, Tom Grant, a Los Angeles based private investigator and former L.A. County Sheriff’s deputy, is convinced that the official ruling of suicide was a rush to judgment.”
The guitar Kurt Cobain played on Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged performance sold for an eye-popping $6 million at auction.
The 1959 Martin D-18E that Cobain played in the band’s rare acoustic performance and subsequent live album was sold to Australian Peter Freedman, owner of Røde Microphones, at the Music Icons event run by Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, California.
The bids opened at $1 million for the sale that ended up breaking several world records.(ROLLING STONE)
The guitar will be part of the “Music Icons” sale at Julien’s Auctions, taking place June 19th and 20th in Beverly Hills, California, and on the Julien’s Auctions website. Prior to the sale, the guitar will be on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Piccadilly Circus, London, May 15th through 31st, and at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, June 15th through 19th.
The guitar is a 1959 Martin D-18E, and the auction lot also comes with the original hard-shell case that Cobain had adorned with a flyer for the band Poison Idea’s 1990 album, Feel the Darkness (the case is also stamped with three baggage claim ticket stubs and an Alaska Airlines sticker). Inside the case is a half-used pack of Martin guitar strings, three picks and a “suede ‘stash’ bag” that’s decorated with a small silver spoon, fork and knife.
Last October, the cardigan Cobain wore during Unplugged sold at Julien’s Auctions for $330,000
