Nirvana Music Group

Nirvana's performance at England's Reading Festival in summer 1992 is widely viewed as the most celebrated set in the spectacular band's brief history. Now, it's finally available on a DVD that captures Kurt Cobain at his most provocative and intense. There had been alarming rumors about the Nirvana leader circulating in the days before the Reading appearance, including one that maintained Cobain was deathly ill in a hospital after a drug overdose. So imagine the sense of drama among the crowd of 60,000 when the singer-songwriter-guitarist, looking frail in a hospital gown and massive wig, was wheeled onto the stage.

Nirvana's performance at England's Reading Festival in summer 1992 is widely viewed as the most celebrated set in the spectacular band's brief history. Now, it's finally available on a DVD that captures Kurt Cobain at his most provocative and intense. There had been alarming rumors about the Nirvana leader circulating in the days before the Reading appearance, including one that maintained Cobain was deathly ill in a hospital after a drug overdose. So imagine the sense of drama among the crowd of 60,000 when the singer-songwriter-guitarist, looking frail in a hospital gown and massive wig, was wheeled onto the stage.

Nirvana, the most acclaimed American rock group of the '90s, has withdrawn from the summer "Lollapalooza '94" tour amid reports the group has broken up. A spokesman for the band's record label cited doctors' concerns about leader Kurt Cobain's health as the reason the group has withdrawn from negotiations to headline "Lollapalooza '94." The Geffen Records spokesman would not detail Cobain's health problems.

The touchstone album of grunge rock, Nirvana's 1991 "Nevermind," provides the foundation for a dance-based show created by celebrated modern dance choreographer Donald Byrd that gets its world premiere this weekend in Seattle. Byrd said the show will not be a strictly biographical work about Nirvana singer and songwriter Kurt Cobain, but it will have two dancers who represent Cobain and his widow, Courtney Love.

Familiar with the details of his troubled life, but appalled at the way he died, fans of Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain were shocked Friday. But they were not surprised. "I saw it coming--from the beginning," said Aaron Smith, a 21-year-old employee at the Tower Records store on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. Smith, from Seattle like Cobain, remembered seeing him after a concert two years ago. "He was just real solemn--like he didn't like it.

Kurt Cobain, lead singer for the best-selling rock band Nirvana, was rushed to a hospital in Rome early Friday after collapsing into a drug-induced coma. The 27-year-old Seattle singer-songwriter--who has been hailed as a "spokesman for his generation" because of the anger and alienation in his music--was comatose throughout the morning but began to show signs of recovery by midday.

The magnolia trees are in bloom again in the Denny-Blaine neighborhood. In this hillside enclave of timber-baron mansions and waterfront estates, wealthy homeowners employ a phalanx of gardeners to keep the blossoms fine-tuned. But amid the Martha Stewart-like affluence is another more somber spring ritual. During the first week of April, a public park becomes ground zero for a steady stream of mourners paying homage to the memory of Kurt Cobain.

Look under any Christmas tree you want this week, but you won't find that Nirvana boxed set that the two surviving members of the band hoped would be a holiday fan favorite as well as a fitting commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the group's seminal album "Nevermind."

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Nirvana's "Nevermind," a landmark album that changed the direction of rock by bringing to the masses raw, punk-driven music filled with Generation X angst. Various commemorations are unfolding around the date, from TV specials to magazine tributes. Spin magazine has leader Kurt Cobain on the cover of its Sept. 4 issue, and VH1 marked the anniversary of "Nevermind" with a news special, "Grunge," earlier this month.

There's a startling moment in "With the Lights Out," a rich trove of unreleased Nirvana tapes due out this month. It comes just before Kurt Cobain begins singing "Rape Me" -- a song so full of dark, violent imagery that MTV executives once warned him they'd switch to a commercial if he sang it on an awards show. But the surprise on this studio rehearsal tape doesn't come from lyrics such as "Hate me / Do it again and again / Waste me, taste me my friend."

Courtney Love has sold 25% of her share of Nirvana's publishing catalog to Larry Mestel, a former Virgin Records executive who now runs Primary Wave Music Publishing, Rolling Stone magazine reported on its website, rollingstone.com. It quoted a source close to the deal as saying Mestel likely paid Love more than $50 million. Love inherited more than 98% of the band's publishing rights from her late husband, Nirvana singer and lead songwriter Kurt Cobain.

There's a startling moment in "With the Lights Out," a rich trove of unreleased Nirvana tapes due out this month. It comes just before Kurt Cobain begins singing "Rape Me" -- a song so full of dark, violent imagery that MTV executives once warned him they'd switch to a commercial if he sang it on an awards show. But the surprise on this studio rehearsal tape doesn't come from lyrics such as "Hate me / Do it again and again / Waste me, taste me my friend."

The magnolia trees are in bloom again in the Denny-Blaine neighborhood. In this hillside enclave of timber-baron mansions and waterfront estates, wealthy homeowners employ a phalanx of gardeners to keep the blossoms fine-tuned. But amid the Martha Stewart-like affluence is another more somber spring ritual. During the first week of April, a public park becomes ground zero for a steady stream of mourners paying homage to the memory of Kurt Cobain.

The famous baby who floated into the minds and hearts of millions of Nirvana fans on the cover of the group's "Nevermind" album in 1991 is back on the cover of another album. Spencer Elden, now 12, appears on "The Dragon Experience," the recently released third solo album by cEvin Key, formerly of Canadian industrial-rock group Skinny Puppy. Key got Elden to do the photo shoot because Key's girlfriend once was Elden's baby-sitter.

Nirvana's final completed recording, "You Know You're Right," has gained mythic status during the eight years it has remained officially unreleased. Now the recording has surfaced, unauthorized--first on Internet file-sharing services and this week on radio. In Los Angeles, KROQ-FM (106.7) played the song Monday and Tuesday, then received a cease-and-desist order that a station spokesman says it is honoring (though it was heard there again on Thursday).

Look under any Christmas tree you want this week, but you won't find that Nirvana boxed set that the two surviving members of the band hoped would be a holiday fan favorite as well as a fitting commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the group's seminal album "Nevermind."

The famous baby who floated into the minds and hearts of millions of Nirvana fans on the cover of the group's "Nevermind" album in 1991 is back on the cover of another album. Spencer Elden, now 12, appears on "The Dragon Experience," the recently released third solo album by cEvin Key, formerly of Canadian industrial-rock group Skinny Puppy. Key got Elden to do the photo shoot because Key's girlfriend once was Elden's baby-sitter.

The touchstone album of grunge rock, Nirvana's 1991 "Nevermind," provides the foundation for a dance-based show created by celebrated modern dance choreographer Donald Byrd that gets its world premiere this weekend in Seattle. Byrd said the show will not be a strictly biographical work about Nirvana singer and songwriter Kurt Cobain, but it will have two dancers who represent Cobain and his widow, Courtney Love.

Rock star Courtney Love carved out a new identity for herself this year as an artist-rights activist, ranting about greedy corporations that she claimed cheat bands out of royalties and try to steal their music. But that crusader image suffered a blow Wednesday when the remaining members of the grunge band Nirvana sued Love, accusing the widow of bandmate Kurt Cobain of trying to seize control of the trio's recordings for her own financial gain.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Nirvana's "Nevermind," a landmark album that changed the direction of rock by bringing to the masses raw, punk-driven music filled with Generation X angst. Various commemorations are unfolding around the date, from TV specials to magazine tributes. Spin magazine has leader Kurt Cobain on the cover of its Sept. 4 issue, and VH1 marked the anniversary of "Nevermind" with a news special, "Grunge," earlier this month.