SEATTLE (AP) — One of the foremost experts on Kurt Cobain said the late grunge rocker did not pen a note
mocking his wedding vows to fellow musician Courtney Love.
Love herself wrote it, said Seattle author Charles R. Cross, who has written several books on Cobain,
including the biography “Heavier Than Heaven.” Cross said Love emailed him to say that she wrote the
note and that she gave it to Cobain before their wedding in 1991.
“Early in their relationship, they wrote notes like that to each other constantly,” Cross said. “The
handwriting is absolutely Courtney’s.”
Police found the note in Cobain’s wallet after he killed himself in 1994. It received a lot of media
attention last week after CBS News published it, saying it was presumably written by Cobain and that it
was sure to stoke questions about what role his marriage played in his death. The note references Love
as Cobain’s “lawful shredded wife” who would be “siphoning” his money for drugs.
“The note was promoted as Kurt mocking their wedding vows three years after they were married. It just
doesn’t make any sense,” Cross said.
Cross said the couple often wrote each other such sarcastic notes
Cobain’s body was discovered in Seattle on April 8, 1994. An investigation determined that days earlier
Cobain had gone into the greenhouse of his home and taken a massive dose of heroin. He then shot himself
with a 20-gauge shotgun.
Earlier this year, in advance of the 20th anniversary of Cobain’s suicide, a Seattle detective reviewed
the case files, including evidence photos and statements. He found no new information to change the
police conclusion that Cobain took his own life.
Cobain, who was 27 when he died, sold millions of albums with Nirvana and helped popularize the Pacific
Northwest’s heavy, muddy “grunge” rock. Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last
month.