Kurt Cobain

Acting

Kurt Cobain

Born 1967-02-20 · Aberdeen, Washington, USA

Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – c. April 5, 1994) was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana. Cobain formed Nirvana with Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1985 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene, having its debut album Bleach released on the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. After signing with major label DGC Records, the band found breakthrough success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from its second album Nevermind (1991). Following the success of Nevermind, Nirvana was labeled "the flagship band" of Generation X, and Cobain hailed as "the spokesman of a generation". Cobain however was often uncomfortable and frustrated, believing his message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, with his personal issues often subject to media attention. He challenged Nirvana's audience with its final studio album In Utero (1993). During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction, illness and depression, his fame and public image, as well as the professional and lifelong personal pressures surrounding himself and his wife, musician Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances of his death have become a topic of public fascination and debate. Since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, has sold over 25 million albums in the US alone, and over 50 million worldwide.

Acting credits

Cobain: Montage of Heck poster
7.6

Hailed as one of the most innovative and intimate documentaries of all time, experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the only ever fully authorized portrait of the famed music icon. Academy Award nominated filmmaker Brett Morgen expertly blends Cobain's personal archive of art, music, never seen before movies, animation and revelatory interviews from his family and closest friends.

Cobain: Montage of Heck

2015

Hype! poster
7.4

This documentary examines the Seattle scene as it became the focus of a merging of punk rock, heavy metal, and innovation. Building from the grass roots, self-promoted and self-recorded until break-out success of bands like Nirvana brought the record industry to the Pacific Northwest, a phenomenon was born.

Hype!

1996

Soaked in Bleach poster
7.0

Twenty years ago, Kurt Cobain was found dead of an apparent gunshot wound to the head. The world was told it was a suicide, but evidence would lead many people to believe it might be otherwise. The film investigates the possibilities that exist that Kurt Cobain's death might not have been a suicide, that the Seattle Police Department rushed their verdict, and the global media perpetuated lies and misinformation fed to them by Courtney Love that created the belief in many that Cobain killed himself—but when revealed to be lies—lead many to now question what happened.

Soaked in Bleach

2015

The Devil and Daniel Johnston poster
7.7

This 2005 documentary film chronicles the life of Daniel Johnston, a manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist, from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his mental illness and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

2006

No artwork available
NR

The 1990s to the present, through the main wars of the last decades - from Iraq to Libya - but also the influence of the East on modern Western musicians (Eyvind Kang, Jessika Kenney, Trey Spruance)

Stupor Mundi: Book 3, The Most Dangerous Encounter

2019

Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage poster
6.5

Explore Woodstock 99, a three-day music festival promoted to echo unity and counterculture idealism of the original 1969 concert but instead devolved into riots, looting and sexual assaults.

Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage

2021

The Secret Lives of Bill Bartell poster
NR

Bill Bartell was a multifaceted individual who traversed the punk rock scene, law enforcement, rodeo riding, and country music. Known for his unique contribution to punk rock through his label Gasatanka Records and band White Flag, Bartell's life defies conventional boundaries, blending hyper-masculinity with subcultural rebellion. His story, filled with mysterious and seemingly contradictory roles, offers a compelling narrative about identity, transformation, and the unexpected paths life can take.

The Secret Lives of Bill Bartell

2025

Kurt Everywhere poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Kurt Everywhere

2018

VH1 News Special: Grunge poster
NR

VH1 and SPIN magazine teamed up to present 'VH1 News Special: Grunge', an in-depth look at the Seattle-born movement that transformed popular music and the major players who made it happen.

VH1 News Special: Grunge

2001

1991: The Year Punk Broke poster
6.8

David Markey's documentary of life on the road with Sonic Youth and Nirvana during their tour of Europe in late 1991. Also featuring live performances by Dinosaur Jr, Babes in Toyland, The Ramones and Gumball.

1991: The Year Punk Broke

1992

Nirvana: Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! poster
7.6

Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain worked on compiling this collection of performances, interviews, and touring clips from 1991 to 1993 but did not finish it before his death in 1994. Bandmembers Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic completed it with the help of director Kevin Kerslake.

Nirvana: Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!

1994

Nirvana: Unplugged In New York poster
8.6

A live album by American rock band Nirvana, the album features an acoustic performance recorded at Sony Music Studios in New York City on 18 November 1993, for the television series MTV Unplugged.

Nirvana: Unplugged In New York

1993

Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit poster
7.7

Set in a high school, featuring a host of jocks, preps, punks and jocks, the clip perfectly captured the spirit of Nirvana and the message that people should be unified in their anger.

Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit

1991

Nirvana: Live and Loud poster
8.9

Just under a month after the taping of the legendary 'Unplugged', Nirvana would go on to record a concert for MTV during their 'In Utero' tour........it would be their last.

Nirvana: Live and Loud

1993

MTV Unplugged: Nirvana poster
8.8

An edited version of Nirvana's historic acoustic performance at Sony Music Studios in New York City, presented in a 45-minute television format for MTV. Recorded on November 18, 1993, the broadcast features a selection of their classic tracks, including 'About a Girl', 'Dumb', and 'All Apologies'.

MTV Unplugged: Nirvana

1993

Nirvana: Live at the Paramount poster
8.1

Recorded in Seattle, WA on Halloween Night, 1991, Live at the Paramount is the only known Nirvana live show recorded on 16mm film. Now released to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the release of Nirvana's watershed album.

Nirvana: Live at the Paramount

2011

27: Gone Too Soon poster
5.8

Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all died at the age of 27 between 1969 and 1971. At the time, the coincidence gave rise to some comment, but it was not until the death of Kurt Cobain, about two and a half decades later, that the idea of a "27 Club" began to catch on in public perception, reignited with the death of Amy Winehouse in 2011. Through interviews with people who knew them, such as music stars, critics, medical experts and unseen footage, the lives, music, and artistry of those who died at 27 are investigated with a bid to find answers.

27: Gone Too Soon

2018

RuPaul's Christmas Ball poster
10.0

Variety special featuring guests from the downtown New York club scene to stellar artists including Nirvana and Elton John.

RuPaul's Christmas Ball

1993

BUSCANDO MI NIRVANA poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

BUSCANDO MI NIRVANA

2025

Freaks, Nerds & Weirdos poster
7.5

Documentary that gives a voice to the percentage of youth that were outcasts/non-conformists in the 90's. Interviews many famous musicians and other celebrity personalities, who talk about their being outcasts as youths, in school etc., leading up to their successes in adult life, and how being an outcast/non-conformist played a role in their artistic expression.. Also touches upon the topic of teen suicide & depression.

Freaks, Nerds & Weirdos

1994

25 Years of Punk poster
7.0

Lou Reed narrates this Television special that takes a look back at the beginnings of the punk rock movements in New York & England, the underground punk scenes in the 70's & 80's, and the punk resurgence in the 90's. A collaboration between VH1 and Spin magazine.

25 Years of Punk

2001

Grunge: A Story of Music and Rage poster
7.2

An extension of punk and the fury of the 70s, Grunge was built on the impossibility of living in this world without transforming it. On a categorical refusal to collaborate and the need to create your own rules. The subculture as a refuge. Grunge was a secret movement, a piracy that should never have become popular. A bubble whose epilogue was played out in 3 years, between 1991 and 1994. What happened to this rage?

Grunge: A Story of Music and Rage

2021

Kurt & Courtney poster
6.0

After rocker Kurt Cobain's death, ruled a suicide, a film crew arrives in Seattle to make a documentary. Director Nick Broomfield talks to lots of people. Portraits emerge: a shy, slight Kurt, weary of touring, embarrassed by fame, hooked on heroin; an out-going Courtney, dramatic, controlling, moving from groupie to star.

Kurt & Courtney

1998

The Britpop Story 'It Really, Really, Really, Could Happen' poster
NR

In August 1995 Blur and Oasis were engaged in a head-to-head chart battle which divided music fans and led to a wider argument about British pop music. John Harris, journalist and author of The Last Party - the definitive study of the entwinement of music and politics in the 1990s - presents a documentary charting the rise of Britpop, its brief romance with New Labour and the emergence of 'new lad' culture. Finally, as Britpop declines, he asks what legacy it has left. Including contributions from Blur's Graham Coxon, Elastica's Justine Frischmann, Sleeper's Louise Wener, former New Labour insider Darren Kalynuk, and the founder of Creation records, Alan McGee.

The Britpop Story 'It Really, Really, Really, Could Happen'

2005