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Home / Entertainment

Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's childhood home is officially a landmark

BANG! Showbiz
31 Jul, 2021 09:04 PM3 mins to read

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Kurt Cobain of Nirvana during the taping of MTV Unplugged in 1993. Photo / Getty Images

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana during the taping of MTV Unplugged in 1993. Photo / Getty Images

Kurt Cobain's childhood home has officially been made a historical landmark.

The late Nirvana frontman - who died by suicide aged 27 in 1994 - grew up in the modest property in Aberdeen, Washington, where he lived between 1968 and 1984.

And Washington's Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation has now added it to the Heritage Register for "historically significant sites and properties found throughout the state".

The owner of the property, Lee Bacon, has been busy restoring the house to its original condition and is set to open the doors for private tours next year.

Kurt Cobain lived at the Aberdeen property between 1968 and 1984. Photo / Getty Images
Kurt Cobain lived at the Aberdeen property between 1968 and 1984. Photo / Getty Images
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He's also announced plans for a Tribute Lounge and Gallery Cafe in the town, where fans of the Come As You Are hitmaker will find various pieces of memorabilia.

Allyson Brooks, the executive director of the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, told Rolling Stone: "Generally we want to be sure that we're acknowledging that something happened in a childhood home that was significant.

"In this case, it's Kurt Cobain, who developed his musical passions and skills in Aberdeen and in that house. Everyone on the council recognised the importance of the place." Meanwhile, a caricature of the grunge icon recently sold for a whopping NZ$396,000 at auction.

The self-portrait of the Smells Like Teen Spirit rocker playing his beloved guitar, includes the words: "I don't know how to play and I don't give a hoot!" And it's signed: "Kurdt Kobain Rock Star (sic)." The unique item well-exceeded its estimated valuation of NZ$13,000 when it went under the hammer as part of Julien's Auctions Music Icons sale in June.

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Kurt gave the drawing to Jacque Chong, who photographed the grunge band on their promotional tour of seminal LP Nevermind in Singapore in 1992.

The caricature sale came after strands of the music legend's hair sold for NZ$19,000. The Blew rocker's blonde tresses went under the hammer as part of the Amazing Music Auction by Iconic Auctions.

The hair had been kept since Nirvana's tour in 1989 in support of their LP Bleach.

Kurt's pal Tessa Osbourne and a fan had given Kurt a haircut in Birmingham, England, and she then gave a single lock to Seattle artist Nicole DePolo following the death of the musician.

The listing read: "This one-of-a-kind artifact is entirely fresh-to-market, and accompanied by an impeccable lineage of provenance including images of Kurt posing with the woman who cut this hair, scissors in hand, and a fantastic shot of the hair actually being cut! She provided the original bag with handwritten provenance note, '29/10/89: Tess cut Kurt's hair in Birmingham, England, 27 Holy Rd., Handsworth, Birmingham B202BU' which is retained with the original complete lock."

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