Music News

I Was On the Radio the Day Kurt Cobain Died. Here’s What It Sounded Like

I Was On the Radio the Day Kurt Cobain Died. Here’s What It Sounded Like

Actually, a better title for this post would be “I Was on the Radio the Day We Heard Kurt Cobain Was Dead.” I remember it well. It was Friday, April 8. We had no idea at the time that he’d been lying in that room above the greenhouse at his home in Seattle for almost three days.

As I was getting ready for my 2-6pm shift on 102.1 The Edge, Anita, the woman who was doing news that afternoon, came into the studio at around 1:45.

“They found a body in Seattle,” she said. “Wanna guess who it might be?”

“Kurt. It’s gotta be. Ever since that suicide attempt in Rome last month…”

“I think so, too. I’ll watch the wire.”

In those pre-Internet, pre-social media days, all we had was the BN wire service and a telephone. Since we couldn’t get through to anyone who could tell us anything, all we could do was wait for the printer to spit out any updates.

This is how things unfolded over the next 90 minutes. People still tell me that they remember where they were when they heard this. I certainly won’t forget it.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 37974 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

Let us know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.