Here we are now : the lasting impact of Kurt Cobain
(Book)

The author of the Kurt Cobain biography "Heavier Than Heaven" examines the legacy of the Nirvana frontman and discusses why he still matters twenty years after his death.

On April 5, 1994, 27-year-old Kurt Cobain took his own life. His desperation to kick drugs, his complicated relationship with fame, his tortured soul--all these elements came together in one terrible moment, and the landscapes of music and pop culture were forever changed. Two decades have passed since Cross, a Seattle-based writer and early supporter of Nirvana, lived the horror of that day on the front lines, fielding the phone calls as the media descended. While the impact of a life is difficult to see on the day he dies, the long view provides a wider vista. Here, for the first time, Cross, author of the definitive Cobain biography, explores how the haunting memory of Cobain lives on in innumerable, and sometimes surprising, ways. Here We Are Now attempts to answer where we--the fans, the music business and fashion industry, the addiction and recovery communities, Kurt's family are, two decades later. Cobain's life and work can be seen everywhere, from his indelible marks on music to his more subtle influence on gender and gay rights, the way we view suicide and drug addiction, and the idea of Seattle as a cultural hub. Cobain and Nirvana are now part of a rite of passage through adolescence, and while "teen spirit" may have changed and evolved since the early nineties, the music remains authentic. Kurt Cobain changed the cultural conversation, in his all too brief life, and even after his shattering death. With interviews and commentary from all corners of the pop culture universe, this book explores what a singular life meant, and how that meaning can be measured, when and if it can be.--From publisher description.