Celebrity Legacies on Reelz Channel: Kurt Cobain's History With Chronic Pain

       Kurt Cobain’s History with Chronic Pain

Celebrity Legacies on Reelz Channel is back! This episode focuses on Kurt Cobain of the 90s band Nirvana. Here's an article highlighting the ties between his infamous heroin addiction with his chronic pain.

Much has been written about punk rock star Kurt Cobain. As the lead figure of the grunge band Nirvana and the rebellious icon who was the face of the 90s culture, Cobain reached a new generation with music containing themes of teenage angst, disillusionment, doubt, and confusion. His sound was raw and discordant with lyrics that were often inaudible or illogical. But as much as Cobain is remembered for his music and influencing the resurgence of American punk music, he is perhaps more remembered for his personal life, that is, his strange yet introverted manner, his dysfunctional upbringing, his years of drug abuse, his tumultuous marriage with singer Courtney Love, and his tragic suicide at the age of twenty-seven.

There is an aspect of Cobain’s life, however, that is not quite as well-known to the public (though some of his most devoted fans are likely familiar it); he experienced devastating chronic pain. From a young age, Kurt had intense pain due to a stomach condition. Doctors were unable to definitively diagnose the problem and therefore were unable to effectively treat it. In the documentary film Kurt Cobain: About A Son, Kurt is interviewed as saying, “I’ve always had a pain I wasn’t imagining, I was in pain all the time. I mean , there’s been so many times where I’ve been sitting or eating and having massive pain and no one even realized it because I’m so tired of complaining about it. And it hurts on tour so often that I just have to, I mean, I have no choice but to go about my business and they have no idea I’m in massive pain.” Even his suicide note, which reads in part “thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous stomach” alludes to the agony of his condition.

A Disturbed Life Made Worse By Chronic Pain

It would be a massive understatement to say that Kurt’s life was riddled with dysfunction, violence, and emotional suffering. He witnessed his step-father abuse his mother (including breaking her arm), he was bullied in school (and subsequently became a bully himself), he suffered from anxiety and depression, and of course was highly addicted to heroin. Cobain’s abuse of heroin was arguably the biggest factor contributing to his demise. While he undoubtedly used the drug to try to deal with his troubled childhood and unstable relationships, there’s evidence to suggest that a major reason he abused it was to try to numb not only his emotional pain, but his physical pain as well. This is not unlike other cases of high profile celebrities who died at least partially because of drug use: Michael Jackson, Brittany Murphy, and Heath Ledger are a few stars whose fatal drug abuse was at least in part to try to alleviate pain.

Self-Medicating Chronic Pain

Cobain’s experience using heroin to cope with his physical pain is not uncommon; individuals who are desperate to alleviate their chronic pain often resort to extreme and dangerous methods to do so. While heroin is the most extreme example, abuse of other types of painkillers (Oxycodone, morphine, and Vicodin) is a prevalent problem, with an estimated 2.4 million Americans using prescription and illegal drugs for pain (according to a study by National Survey on Drug Use and Health). Those in the field of pain management understand the scientific and ethical dilemma of creating and administering medications and techniques to properly alleviate pain without leading to dependency or abuse. Tragically, Cobain and so many others took things too far.

Doubts Cast

There have been countless theories about the life of Kurt Cobain. Many have postulated about the true nature of his death, but a newer idea that contradicts popular belief was offered by Buzz Osborne of the band The Melvins who knew Cobain from high school. “King Buzzo” as he is called, said in a 2015 interview that Kurt had told him there was nothing wrong with his stomach, that he made it all up for sympathy and an excuse to “stay loaded.” Osborne expressed his frustration when die-hard fans of Cobain’s still believe that he used heroin because of pain. “That’s the one thing no one gets about Kurt-he was a master of jerking your chain,” Osborne said.

Though it will be impossible to entirely understand the full psyche and motivations of Kurt Cobain and all his self-destructive behaviors, it is clear that heroin destroyed him, both mentally and physically. It’s become a sad cliché when rock stars spiral downward, and Cobain’s death made him a member of the infamous “27 Club,” where he joined other legends like Amy Winehouse and Jimi Hendrix in dying at such a young age. His music and influence continues to play a major part in grunge culture because he found ways to express what others felt. His suffering with chronic pain may yet be one further way that Kurt Cobain exemplified a darker side of the human experience.

I hope you'll check out Reelz Channel to see me give more insight into the life and legacy of Kurt Cobain.