Driving Solo: A Reflection on Today's Icons Essay

Kurt Cobain was the singer and guitarist for Nirvana. He was born in Hoquiam (population 9,000) and after six months of life moved to Aberdeen (pop. 16,500), an old lumber town at the eastern-most point of Grays Harbor. The town is about four miles wide and three miles long. On the northern and eastern sides of town are steep hills where the richer families live in Victorian-style houses. At the foot of the

Kurt Cobain is the frontman of the 90’s rock band Nirvana. He was married to Courtney Love for two years before he died in 1994. The Seattle Police Department say that he had committed suicide but conspiracy theorists say otherwise. Some say that the police are wrong and he did not commit suicide but was, in fact, murdered. They say that Courtney Love was behind it. After a documentary called Soaked In Bleach was released in

Ironically, Cobain’s renouncement of popular music and culture only compelled mainstream audiences to flock to Nirvana’s sound.

Kurt Cobain was the lead singer of the Seattle based grunge rock band Nirvana. As Nirvana's lead songwriter, guitarist, and singer, Cobain took the music industry by surprise and is considered the godfather of the grunge rock movement. Cobain and his band had a prevalent influence on young teenagers of the 1990s and were considered idols by numerous individuals. Nirvana took the popular music industry by storm when they were able to revamp the genre of grunge rock and cause a dramatic shift in music, away from the dominant genres of the 1980s. The success of Kurt Cobain was overshadowed by numerous of his psychological problems including drug addiction, his unstable marriage to music celebrity Courtney Love, and constant pressure from the

It presented a very one-sided negative view of Courtney Love as a parent. This article written in 1992 quoted the Hole front woman saying she had gone on a heroin binge while pregnant.

When she started off, Albert worked in tandem with her then significant other, Geoffrey Knoop. Working as the brains behind “JT LeRoy”, the pair acquired the attention of Dennis Cooper, an author noted for his work in gay fiction. According to Journalist Warren St. John, Albert reaped many benefits from “LeRoy’s” relationship with Cooper. Through Cooper, Albert was introduced to many influential individuals in the literary world, who could help expand the reach of “LeRoy’s” work. As a result, Albert and Knoop’s work as “JT LeRoy” became well known for both content and “LeRoy’s” dramatic backstory (St. John, “Figure in JT Leroy Case Says Partner Is Culprit”). Over time, Albert gained the companionship and moral support of many people including Courtney Love, the widow of Nirvana rock star Kurt Cobain, and actress Winona Ryder (St. John, “Jury Finds JT LeRoy Was Fraud”). The support “LeRoy” received from these people largely came in the form of sympathy. According to a Vanity Fair article, Dennis Cooper felt sorry for “JT” and offered moral support—so much so that he began to suspect that he was being “hustled” by “LeRoy” (Handy, “The Boy Who Cried Author”). Even “LeRoy’s” literary agent, Ira Silverberg, commented, "People were generous because they thought they

Kurt was an artistic child since the beginning, he would constantly draw and sing and play on a small drum set. At age eight Kurt became more hateful toward all people because he felt that he didn’t fit in anywhere, and that feeling only amplified when his parents divorced. “I remember feeling ashamed, for some reason, ashamed of my parents” Kurt explained in a 1993 Guitar World interview. Divorce wasn’t a common thing at the time, people just didn’t split so Kurt felt that he couldn’t even face some of his friends at school anymore. He so desperately wanted the typical family life so he resented his parents for quite a few years after that. He quickly became depressed and withdrew himself from anything family oriented. He caused trouble at home which resulted in being kicked out by his mother. This caused more issues with his home situation leading him to be shifted among aunts, uncles, and even friends because after a few weeks in each place everyone wanted him to leave.

He is remembered to have revolutionized the sound of music, injecting his ambiguous poetry and strange yet melodic singing style. He was admired by fans of all genders and famous future musicians like Joy Division and Iggy Pop. Morrison is remembered for his contributions to hippie counterculture and influence on modern music, however, his undesirable behavior is spoken about far less often. His prominent alcohol addiction was as much a part of his public persona as the sainted, inspirational version of himself. He would commonly attend his own shows tardy and intoxicated. One incident in Florida resulted in him being taken to court by the city of Miami, Florida for his display of public indecency and inebriation (CBS News). He was notably unfaithful to his partner Pamela Courson, even involving himself with female rock critic, Patricia Kennealy, who supposedly bound the two of them in a Wiccan Handfasting ceremony (Hopkins). Jim Morrison never lived a life looking to be accepted by a respectable audience, so why the insistence of this perfected ideal

Then there was Nirvana standing alone. When other bands were singing about partying and how great life was, Nirvana was singing about what goes on in the head of a person suffering from depression, being poor, and having no self-worth. This was a reality for a major portion of society at the time. According to Forbes Magazine unemployment rates in the early 90’s reached 7.8% the stock market was down, and the country was in the grips of a recession. Nirvana gave people affected by the recession a voice, it was now acceptable to have problems; people could relate to not living the high life. People seemed to let go of their social constrictions. No longer were high dollar clothes a necessity. Designer clothing and a prim and proper persona gave way to flannel shirts, jeans with holes, and a I don’t care what you think of me attitude. The 90’s saw some rough times and Nirvana was there to help make the pill a little less difficult to swallow, and for that I think it is safe to say the youth of my generation owe Nirvana and Kurt Cobain a huge dept. of

Marilyn Manson has been pushing the envelope of the right to freedom of expression since his controversial "shock rock" antics began in the early 1990's. His methods are strange and rejected by most of society, as it cannot understand what he is trying to achieve. Many people believe that Marilyn Manson is bizarre, seeing him wearing women's clothing, applying heavy facial makeup, and covering himself with jewelry. His success can be attributed not only to his entertainment abilities, but even more so to the incredible marketing campaign organized to promote himself and his crazy actions. His actions give the media a scapegoat to fall back on and a figure which they can blame all of society's problems. He has amassed a large following

Cobain’s personality fits rather easily into Alfred Adler’s theory of personality, especially in terms of style of life and birth order. Adler believed that “the individual creates the style of life,” rather than being a victim of fate (Schultz & Schultz, 2009, p. 137). He named four styles of life, dominant, getting, avoiding, and

Kurt Donald Cobain was born February 20th, 1967 in Aberdeen, Washington. Son of Wendy Elizabeth and Donald Leland Cobain, Cobain was born in Grays Harbor Hospital. Ever since Kurt was a young boy, he has always had an interest in music as he started singing at 2 years old. At age four, he was writing songs, singing, and playing the piano. He was also listening to rock and roll at this age such as “The Beatles” or “The Ramones”. Cobain’s parents divorced at the age of nine and both of the adults remarried shortly after. Kurt has said in interviews that this had a very dramatic effect on him, even going as far as changing his personality. He had always dreamed of that perfect family, and since his parents decision stopped that from happening - he held a grudge.

Kurt Cobain. Kurt Cobain was the lead vocalist of the rock band Nirvana. He was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) while he was still young. In the later years of his life, he was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. He also had depression and died through an overdose of champagne and Rohypnol.

Consumers are aware of the impact of media on community behaviour as a whole. A conducted survey shows careless media reporting can trigger suicidal behaviour to consumers. The study concludes that the influence of suicide reporting may not be limited to harmful effects; instead, coverage of positive coping in adverse situations, like media reports about suicidal ideation, can have protective effects (Niederkrotenthaler T et al 2010). When grunge icon Kurt Cobain of Nirvana committed suicide with a shotgun to his head, it created an explosion for copycat suicides. After a month following his death, 18 suicides were recorded in Seattle including 28 year old obvious copycat who have just attended a candle light vigil a few days after Cobain’s body was found (Klass T 1996).

John Lennon, through his music, spread his view of the importance of world peace. He was able to gain many followers to his movement and impact the world of music and politics through his music. John Lennon himself was wealthy and did not need to spend his time and energy on trying to better life for the less fortunate. Because he was actually able to send out his message and effectively create rallies and movements in response to his views, his listeners made his music a commodity. However, though his music was able to do a lot of good, it also was the reason he was incredibly wealthy. Through his social status because of his wealth, he was able to spread his message. His listeners, in order to hear his message, would buy his music and feed into his fame and fortune. This defies the definition of commodity because his literature, or his music, was also very beneficial to himself. Though his listeners used it to create political awareness of the need for peace, he also used it to keep his name famous and to keep his income steady. This complicates his music as defined as a commodity, and shows that an audience can give something use value and make it a commodity at the same