I Swear it, I don’t have a gun….The End of Nirvana

            1993 saw the release of In Utero, Nirvana’s final studio album. While the album was not nearly as successful as 1991’s Nevermind the album rode the wave of critical and fan acclaim to sell over 5 million records. After the release of In Utero rumors began to surface suggesting the Cobain might be looking to move on from Nirvana (Sandford 1995). By this juncture in their timeline Nirvana had gone beyond what most bands could hope to accomplish in their entire careers and they had done it in fewer than 5. These Rock and roll dreams did not belong to Kurt Cobain. On April 8^th, 1994 all rumors were silenced when it was announced that Kurt Cobain had been found dead in the greenhouse above his garage. He died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. Cobain's death sparked a media frenzy. His death made front page headlines and was the lead into many nightly news programs across the country and world (Sandford 1995). )Nirvana's legions of fans gathered for a public ceremony in a park in downtown Seattle on the 10^th of April. The Vigil itself attracted 7,000 mourners. Cobain’s death was broadcast on every major news outlet and the music world went into mourning. The media ate up the iconic singers death and quickly jumped on the opportunity to capitalize on the death that was spawned partly by their own hand. Remembrance collages etc were being created to show the singers brief life and career.

Goodnight to the Rock and Roll Era….The End of Pavement

            By 1999 indie had become more of a genre title and less of an authentic way to discuss groups not associated with a major label. 1999 saw signaled the end of the millennia and the end of an era in indie music. Pavement began the final phases of their quick but inevitable fall from grace. Stephen Malkmus was often at odds with his fellow band members during their final world tour and his stage behavior became silly and erratic. Enough so that even people in the audience started to ask questions, Rumors swirled about the future of Pavement. These rumors came to a head during the 1999 Coachella Valley Festival in October of 1999. Pavement took the stage and Stephen Malkmus suffering from a heavy cold (though he claims he simply smoked too much grass the night before) began to play the chords to their first song on the set list, Gold Soundz. But when SM opened his mouth to sing what came out was not his voice but a groggy and throaty imitation of the indie rock god that had existed only two years previous. SM simply couldn’t sing. The band fumbled through a few more songs while SM attempted to sing his songs. Malkmus uncharacteristically began telling stupid jokes to fill the awkward time between songs, much to the crowd’s dismay. The concert completely flamed out when the band began playing completely instrumentally and culminated with SM going to sit and pout behind his amplifier because the rest of the band began playing a song in which he did not sing in an attempt to divert attention away from their ailing and now embarrassing front man. This was not the last show Pavement ever played, but it was their public conformation that they would play together no more after the tour finished. The tour ended in London as SM sang the last words, symbolically and ironically, “everything’s ending here.” SM’s microphone had a pair of handcuffs dangling from it to symbolize what being in a band was truly like, prison. Pavement fans were left in the lurch and did not find out if the band was simply taking a break or had officially called it quits until about a year later. And even then they had to find out by surfing to the bands website for a brief and direct ending. There was no media coverage. Pavement was no more. Soon after Stephen Malkmus announced his first solo record titled simply, Stephen Malkmus. 

Here's a video of Pavement performing Grounded from the Wowee 

Zowee LP on their last world tour. 

The Point...

The media depends on others for the news. The media doesn't make the news, they just report it, or so they say. The media and Kurt Cobain always had a dynamic relationship. The media made Nirvana what and who they were, and they certainly are responsible for part of the fame that came to the band. The media blew Nirvana into a larger than life group of grunge gods looking to take down the mainstream one track at a time. Because of how highly regarded they were by the media, Nirvana, and especially Cobain, had a hard time dealing with that fact that nothing he did was private anymore. Fans were everywhere and were always asking for an autograph or a picture. Cobain began to feel the weight of charismatic authority, and the end result was his suicide. His note quoted a Neil Young lyric, it said, "remember its better to burn out, than to fade away." Because of Cobain choosing to 'burn out' he would in turn never be forgotten. Cobain's suicide note in its entirety says a lot about a very misunderstood and often misquoted man.