No man is better remembered when it comes to grunge music than Kurt Cobain, frontman and guitarist of Nirvana. As iconic and influential as Cobain was, and for all his glory as a performer, he was a deeply troubled man, with a mysteriousness about him that prevails until today. Cobain died by suicide in 1994, resulting in the dissolution of Nirvana when the group was actually at its peak in terms of success and earning huge money. The year 2014 marked the period when Nirvana first became eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Read more about Kurt Cobain here!

A Vivid Imagination

Kurt Cobain was long known to have sported the feeling that he didn’t belong, and so it made sense that Cobain had actually thought up a fantasy life for himself as a kid in which he was actually an alien who happened to be adopted by humans that called themselves his parents. It was in 1993 that Cobain revealed this to Michael Azzerad, a journalist. He shared that he had imagined that a space ship had left him and shot off to space. He went so far as to communicate with the skies, imagining his real parents to be somewhere in them.

Introduced to Drugs as a Kid

During his childhood, Cobain was actually diagnosed with hyperactive behavior and doctors prescribed his treatment in the form of Ritalin. Today, many mothers and fathers are horrified by the idea of treating their kids with Ritalin and the idea of hyperactivity is quite controversial. But Cobain was given other medications as well – sedatives to relax him and apparently help him sleep at night. Of course, for adults who have battled against substance dependence, they often recall such memories in their childhood, too.  It’s as though being dependent on substances becomes hardwired in a kid’s brain.

The Impact of His Parents’ Divorce

Cobain’s mother and father got a divorce, splitting when he was at the tender age of seven years old. Kurt was an outgoing kid and mild-mannered, in spite of his hyperactivity, for lack of a better term. However, the separation had changed everything about him.  Kurt then became withdrawn and turned inward, often acting out. Art and music served as a medium of escape and venting for Kurt. Kurt began to resent his mother and his father for destroying what he saw as the traditional family – something he desperately wanted. Kurt revealed in 1993 that he actually felt ashamed of his mom and dad, so deep was his disappointment in their breakup.