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.
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