Could The Kurt Cobain Museum Really Happen?

Three weeks ago journalist Jamie Dunkie launched a campaign to raise money for the purchase of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s childhood home, in order to turn it into a museum. So far, however, the campaign has only managed to raise around $130 dollars. This comes during a wave of new tributes to the singer in the 20th year after his death. Aberdeen mayor Bill Simpson has recently said he hopes that Cobain’s hometown will be ‘just as big as Graceland eventually.’ But is a Cobain museum really likely and above all, necessary?

It’s been 20 years since Kurt Cobain, the frontman of grunge icons Nirvana passed away and unsurprisingly this year has marked a wave of new tributes to the prolific singer. On February 20th, Aberdeen, Washington, where Cobain was born, held its first ‘Kurt Cobain Day’, where a statue of the singer was unveiled. The rather underwhelming event along with the statue, which features Cobain depicted shedding a single tear ,was part of a campaign spearheaded by the city’s mayor to make up for lost time in honouring the grunge pioneer. It also prompted the city of Hoquiam, also in Washington, where Cobain briefly lived, to announce their own ‘Kurt Cobain’ day which is scheduled for April 10th, five days after the 20th anniversary of his death. On that day, April 10th, Cobain is set to receive an greater honour when Nirvana finally get inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’.

The idea of honouring Cobain's memory more fully is, of course, long overdue. But the latest effort, the Cobain museum campaign, doesn't seem to be gaining interest the way organizers would have hoped. The house which Jamie Dunkie, the campaign's founder, is looking to turn into a museum is the singer’s childhood home which was put on the market by his mother, Wendy O’Connor at the end of last year. Connor is said to have wanted the house to become a museum honouring her late son and was hoping it would be bought by someone with this intention. Then, earlier this year, Jamie Dunkie got involved and started a crowd funding campaign on 'go fund me' to try and make the museum a reality.

_Next page: can Dunkie really make $700,000?

The journalist and Nirvana fan states that she wants to "make sure this house is memorialised by us fans so it doesn't end up in the clutches of capitalist greed." She's also posted a video with the campaign entitled ‘Through the Eyes of Kurt Cobain’ showing potential investors his childhood bedroom on whose walls there still is the logos of Led Zeppelin and Iron Maiden, which he is said to have drawn. The video gives fans a nice little insight into Cobain's early setting but the problem with Dunkie’s campaign is, she’s looking to raise the rather hefty sum of $700,000 and so far its not really going very well.

Watch Nirvana performing Polly at the Reading Festival, 1993:

There’s no doubt that there’s still plenty of interest in not just Cobain’s music, but his life as well. Another new book on the singer has just been released entitled ‘Here We Are Now’, which charts his posthumous impact and legacy. The book shows how Cobain’s career and the rise of grunge music has helped shape Seattle and turn it into a cultural hub. Indeed, Cobain’s image has never left popular culture, he’s still to be found on t-shirts and posters. His music also still sells, the band’s album sales are currently estimated to be at over 75 million worldwide. But the problem with the Cobain museum idea is that there perhaps just might not be enough of Cobain in Aberdeen to make the project feasible. Mayor Bill Simpson might have visions of Graceland, but Graceland is something which was built and preserved on a much grander scale, which made it easily convertible into a tourist attraction. Cobain’s childhood home just doesn't tell enough of the singer’s story to really make it a worthwhile investment or attraction.

Watch Nirvana performing Lithium at the Reading Festival, 1992:

When Kurt Cobain was living in his Aberdeen bungalow did he ever have visions that one day it could become a museum devoted to his memory? Our guess is that it’s highly unlikely. Instead what Cobain was probably doing was desperately trying to find a way to break free from his home life and find his voice, which he did through his music. Cobain’s aversion to fame and rock stardom in generally probably means he wouldn't have wanted a museum in his honour really. He'd probably preferred us to simply put on one of his records.

While Jamie Dunkie has the best intensions in preserving his memory, her efforts are essentially not needed. Cobain’s legacy is firmly preserved forever in the music he left behind, which every day is discovered by a new crop of fans. Two decades on from his death the image and sound of Cobain is as strong as ever and as long as his music's there he will continue to live on. Even if his childhood home is never opened for business.

More: Campaign to Turn Kurt Cobain's House into Museum Raises $135

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