A Tribute to Grunge's Journal -- Day (original) (raw)

PRESS RELEASE FROM WENDY O�CONNOR, the mother of Kurt Cobain
12/19/01

As the mother of Kurt Cobain and a woman who has two daughters to support, I am shocked and disgusted at the behavior of Krist Novoselic, David Grohl and their "managers" and lawyers.

I was extremely close with my son and spoke with him almost daily during the "Nirvana" years. I know a number of things.

I know that "Nirvana" was never a partnership of any sort.

I know that in the last year of his life, my son despised his bandmates and told me many times that he no longer wanted to play with them or have anything to do with them.

That is why I am speaking up today for my family, my granddaughter and my daughters and daughter-in-law.

Mr. Novoselic and his cohorts are attempting a character assassination on my daughter-in-law that is plain and downright untrue.

My son was also one of my best friends. I knew him very very well.

I know that he wa extremely worried that Krist and Dave were attempting to rip him off financially. Many times he confided to me that he was overwhelmed and bewildered by the amount of "BUSINESS" the other two bandmates did when Kurt was seeking the medical help he so desperately needed. He also worried about a manager who openly despised him and abused him and did whatever he could at times of crisis to stop communications between me and my son, perhaps because he knew that I was onto him and had been from the start.

I watched my son from infancy develop a talent that was brilliant; he showed a genius for crafting songs at a very early age. It astonished our family and even though we were not wealthy people, we did what we could to support Kurt�s dreams of being a successful musician.

Kurt had a hard time as an adolescent. He had an even harder time once the genius and talent that shone so brilliantly from him became gave him great success. At the height of his career, he suffered in an environment where his band and his managers were not at all supportive of his physical or psychic needs.

Mr Novoselic claims to have "worked so hard" as a band with my son. His romantic and revisionist version of a band history of "sleeping on floors" and generally being buddies with Kurt is just untrue.

I don�t know how those two ever kept playing together. It was probably because Krist was willing to help drive and because he knew sticking by Kurt was going to get him to where he is today: an extremely wealthy man.

Krist is an extremely wealthy and decadent man who has achieved his wealth by ripping off my family.

Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl never wrote a "Nirvana" song in their lives. For them to have formed an equal partnership "LLC" is ridiculous beyond comprehension.

My family was victimized at the moment when the LLC was formed, much like Al Hendrix and his family were after Jimi Hendrix�s death. We were all uninformed of what an absurd idea this was. We, the family, were not protected financially or legally even though my son drafted a will that specifically stated that, should any harm befall him, our family would be secure.

That will was ignored, so our family works like the working people we have always been and we are given additional support by my daughter-in-law.

My son wrote these songs and I have no say in the actions of people who I can only call criminal.

>From the day Dave started work in the band, he demanded more and more money and threatened to leave on a regular basis

Kurt wanted him because he was an awfully good drummer. Again, his drumming for Kurt has made him a millionaire many, many times over for his efforts.

There are a lot of things I am feeling right now: rage, shame and disgust at these two and their behavior of the last week.
I am not willing to share all of it in a press release, but I will not allow my daughter-in-law to be libeled and slandered by Krist and Dave.

My son died tragically and I believe his death could have been prevented by proper medical care and he was denied help by selfish and criminal behavior of the people who so callously revise their personal histories today.

My family has suffered hugely and been ripped off for a fortune.

I support my daughter in law in dissolving an "LLC" which never ever should have been formed. I will be hiring counsel of my own to protect the interests of my daughters, and to protect my son�s legacy from the mangling hands of what i believe to a rat�s nest of liars and bandits.

I am grateful that Courtney has hired Yale Lewis, a lawyer who so successfully restored Jimi�s legacy to the Hendrix family. That case has gone down as one of the most disgusting ripoffs in the history of entertainment.

I am simply glad we don�t have to wait 20 years to find out how many people my son has made incredibly wealthy.

We are hard-working and simple people. We live in the country and work for the food on our table. No one can accuse anyone in my family of being greedy or even self-interested. I love my son and I will not allow him to be continually degraded.

Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl and their reps Jill Berliner, Gary Gersh and John Silva are liars and crooks.

My son�s death has obviously affected our famly deeply and tragically. We have all gone through many stages of grief and remorse and it seems like it will never end sometimes. That's why this grab by these people is so horrible.

They got busy on this the day my son died.

As a final statement I'd like to say this.

Kurt was extremely worried about signing to a major label. He had all sorts of conflicted emotions aboiut this. He�d been taught by people he lived with in Olympia that this would be "selling out," yet ever since he was a little boy he said clearly he was "going to be a rockstar."

When he met the record company people in Los Angeles and New York he spoke to me at great length about each label.

He met with Geffen Records and felt that even though "Mr. Geffen wasn't there a lot," he was not a racist, a sexist or a homophobe, all things that were very important to my son. Kurt met and personally adored Mr. Geffen, who he felt was the only "cool guy" in the bunch.

With all my heart, I wish that Mr. Geffen had not sold his company to people who stand for everything that my son tried to avoid by signing with Geffen Records. I am upset that my son�s records are now sold by a company that is home to artists like Limp Bizit, who promoted rape at Woodstock, and Eminem, who brings a lot of hate and homophobia into the world. These are the things that Kurt railed against his whole life. Since he was hassled by jocks most of his school life, it makes me sad that somehow Kurt�s songs are on the "jock rock" label.

My dream is that Kurt�s releases could be released on a label where he would have felt most comfortable, with the man he felt understood and liked him. Kurt signed with David Geffen and it would be best if he was still under Mr. Geffen�s protection and control.

Mr geffen comforted Kurt when he was down and was a good friend to my son. This was the one man in that business that my son consistently admired and adored and trusted.

It�s never been in my nature to take advantage of my son�s stunning success, but
I know that my son would want me to stand up for him and his family in this moment of what I can only describe as total betrayal.

Wendy Fradenburg Cobain O'Connor

(taken from http://hole.com)