Look Back at the Singers’ Marriage

Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love’s relationship is part of rock history.

While there are differing accounts of how the singers met, they were reportedly introduced sometime in the late ’80s to early ’90s. Cobain and Love went on to marry in an intimate ceremony on Feb. 24, 1992.

The Nirvana frontman later told Rolling Stone in April 1992 that he was head over heels for his wife. “I’m… happier than I’ve ever been,” he said. “I finally found someone that I am totally compatible with.”

They welcomed their daughter Frances Bean Cobain on Aug. 18, 1992, and the couple were married for two years before the rock star’s untimely death. Tragically, Cobain died by suicide at the age of 27 on April 5, 1994.

Today, Cobain continues to be remembered for his musical talent by fans and his charisma by his loved ones. In honor of what would have been their 33rd wedding anniversary, here’s a look back at Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love’s relationship.

Love saw Cobain perform 2 years before they met

Love told Sassy magazine in April 1992 that she first spotted Cobain onstage. “I saw him play in Portland in 1988,” she recalled.

Her first impressions were that Cobain was “really passionate and cute.” She added, “I couldn’t tell if he was smart, or had any integrity.”

The pair didn’t officially meet until a bit later, with differing reports stating it happened sometime in the late 1980s and early ’90s.

According to Love, who spoke to Vanity Fair in September 1992, there wasn’t a lot of romance in the beginning.

“Back then, we didn’t have an emotion towards each other,” she told the outlet. “It was, like, ‘Are you coming over to my house?’ “

Love pursued Cobain

In the same interview with Sassy, Love revealed that she was the one to pursue a relationship with Cobain, getting his phone number, calling him and mentioning him by name in interviews.

“I really pursued him, not too aggressive, but aggressive enough that some girls would have been embarrassed by it,” she said. “I’m direct. That can scare a lot of boys.”

Love continued, “Kurt was scared of me. He said he didn’t have time to deal with me. But I knew it was inevitable.”

Kurt denied being frightened by his future wife, telling the magazine, “I would just like [to] say I liked Courtney a lot. I wasn’t ignoring her. I didn’t mean to play hard to get. I just didn’t have the time, I had so many things on my mind.”

As Love had predicted, they eventually got together.

Love wrote “Doll Parts” about Cobain

Before Love and Cobain made their relationship official, he was involved with other people, to which she responded by writing Hole’s hit “Doll Parts.”

In a now-deleted Instagram post from December 2020, Love explained that she was in a bathroom when the lyrics came to her and she wrote the song in only 20 minutes.

“It was my way of saying ‘You’re a f—— idiot if you don’t choose ME, and here is all the desire and fury and love that I feel for you,” she wrote, per Rolling Stone. “Anyway, I married that guy.”

Cobain may have written a song for Love as well: Per the outlet, the songstress claimed in a now-deleted 2012 post that “Heart-Shaped Box” was about her.

Cobain married Love in pajamas

On Feb. 24, 1992, Cobain and Love exchanged their vows in an intimate ceremony in Waikiki, Hawaii. Cobain’s bandmate Dave Grohl was one of the less than 10 people that were in attendance.

Vanity Fair reported that the bride said her “I dos” in a prop dress from a Frances Farmer movie.

The groom, meanwhile, wore green-and-white flannel pajamas, per the New York Post.

Cobain was ready to give up Nirvana for Love

The newlyweds appeared on the cover of Sassy magazine together in April 1992.

In their profile, Cobain revealed that their recent engagement had him contemplating leaving Nirvana.

“In the last couple months, I’ve gotten [married] and my attitude has changed drastically, and I can’t believe how much happier I am,” he told the publication. “At times I even forget that I’m in a band, I’m so blinded by love.”

Cobain added, “I know that sounds embarrassing, but it’s true. I could give up the band right now.”

Cobain passed out while Love was in labor

Everett True, the author of Nirvana — The Biography, wrote that Cobain was already in the hospital detoxing from drugs when his wife went into labor. (The singer struggled with drug and substance abuse throughout most of his life.)

According to the author, Love went to her husband’s room at 4 a.m., right before Frances’ arrival, screaming, “‘You are not leaving me to do this by myself!’ ”

Though Cobain followed her to the delivery room, he passed out moments before his daughter’s birth on Aug. 18, 1992. He recovered just in time to hold the newborn.

Love later reportedly described the scene to journalist Michael Azzerad, stating, “I’m having the baby, it’s coming out, [Kurt’s] puking, he’s passing out and I’m holding his hand and rubbing his stomach while the baby’s coming out.”

Following the dramatic event, Cobain gushed about being a dad to the Los Angeles Times in September 1992. “There’s nothing better than having a baby,” he said. “I knew that when I had a child, I’d be overwhelmed and it’s true.”

He continued, “I can’t tell you how much my attitude has changed since we’ve got Frances.”

Cobain and Love only performed together once

Despite being married for two years and fronting their own bands — Nirvana and Hole — Cobain and Love only performed together publicly one time.

The rock duo took to the stage on Sept. 8, 1993, for the Rock Against Rape benefit at Club Lingerie in Hollywood, Calif. The Los Angeles Times reported that Love was originally performing when she invited Cobain to join her.

“Watch closely. This is the first and last time you’ll ever see this happen,” she said.

They played two acoustic songs: “Pennyroyal Tea” and “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” The couple ended the musical appearance with a kiss.

Cobain and Love bought a house just 3 months before his death

CNN reported that the couple, who had been living in an apartment in the Fairfax district of L.A., bought their Seattle home in January 1994 — just three months before the “Lithium” singer’s death.

Love had previously expressed her excitement about the house to Sassy, stating, “It’s really beautiful. It’s Victorian. And my favorite thing to think about while we’re doing major label meetings and stuff is basically what color we’re going to paint the walls.”

Love has posted multiple tributes to Cobain since his death

Love has shared several tributes to her late husband since his death, including one in honor of what would have been his 54th birthday in February 2021.

“Happy birthday beautiful boy,” she captioned her post.

On the 29th anniversary of Cobain’s death in April 2023, she honored his memory with a black-and-white photograph of his hands taken by R.E.M singer Michael Stipe.

“I love beautiful hands, it’s the first thing I look at in another,” Love wrote on Instagram. “I love that the only photograph of Kurt that @michaelstipe took, despite being a lover of all sorts of beauty … Michael saw these hands.”

Love noted that it was this photo that made her miss Cobain most.

She continued, “He chanted with me & often, & truly was moved by our Buddhist practice. Thus, I know he’s in an enlightened place, more so, than we here in mappo are. Dear Kurt D. C. 🙏🪷 i & we love & miss you.”

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.