Who Killed Kurt Cobain?: The Mysterious Death of an Icon (Hardcover)

by Ian Halperin (Author), Max Wallace (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
On April 8, 1994, Kurt Cobain's corpse was discovered in his Seattle home. By the summer of 1996, rumors of cover-up and murder were making the rounds in coffee shops and rock clubs and on the Internet, with most fingers pointing at Cobain's widow, Courtney Love. Music journalists Halperin and Wallace fill about half their pages with a serviceable joint biography of Cobain and Love, though the meat of the book is their investigation into the rock star's death. The essence of the crime theory, as promulgated by Tom Grant, a private investigator initially hired by Love herself, is that Cobain was murdered with a fatal injection of pure heroin, and then shot. The question of why anyone, after injecting a known junkie with a fatal dose of heroin, would bother to shoot him is the most prominent problem with the theory. The authors cite other, perhaps more provocative data, including statements by a man who claims he was hired to kill Cobain. The motive the authors uncover seems more plausible: When the two rock stars wed, they report, Love, the more successful of the pair at the time, made Cobain sign a prenuptial agreement. But now Cobain was worth a fortune, and there is some evidence that Cobain was going to divorce Love. The evidence isn't solid, and in fact much of what's presented here is wispy, but the authors certainly seem to have dug hard, making this, while not a good bet for serious true crime fans, manna for rumor-mongers and for those who find horror behind the ironic names of Nirvana and Love. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Just who did kill Kurt Cobain? Was it really Cobain himself, through careless use of drugs and intentional aim with a rifle? Or was it Courtney Love, Cobain's extravagant and chameleon-like wife? Or could it have been someone she hired--a professional assassin or lucky amateur? At this point one can't tell, yet the compelling chain of events that Halperin and Wallace expose constitutes evidence of a plausible alternative explanation to the official verdict of suicide. Cobain's short life (he was 27 when he died) was fraught with anguish--broken family, lost love and a desperate search for its return, youthful rebellion, homelessness, drugs. Reality surpassed Cobain's dreams, yet even when he became a millionaire rock star, his past wouldn't let go, and he continued to drown depression in heavy drug use. Halperin and Wallace have written a very good and interesting book, sans hero worship, for fans of pop music and murder mysteries alike, one that soberly lays out the case for thinking this pop icon's death may not be an open-and-shut case. Raul Nino

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 214 pages
• Publisher: Birch Lane Press Book (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559724463
• ISBN-13: 978-1559724463
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #697,773 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking examination of the death of Kurt Cobain, April 11, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

When the rock icon of a generation dies, media attention isinevitable. In April 1994, the death of Kurt Cobain created a tidalwave of attention. Thousands of fans mourned Cobain, the lead singer of the band Nirvana, a group often credited with pioneering the Seattle grunge scene.

More than 65 young people eventually followed their hero into death, committing "copycat" suicides.

Cobain's death was a sensational and strange tale that inspired passionate debates about suicide, the emptiness of the 90s generation, and the responsibilities of pop culture heroes.

Cobain, who died at the age of 27, was a brilliant and creative man who led an emotionally troubled life. He was a heroin user who reportedly committed suicide, leaving a young daughter and wife behind. Days before he died he had disappeared from an L.A. drug treatment center.

The book "Who Killed Kurt Cobain? The Mysterious Death of an Icon" does not answer the question posed by its title. But it does provide compelling reasons why the investigation into his death should be reopened.

The book relates biographical information about Kurt Cobain and his wife Courtney Love; the events leading up to his death; information and insights gleaned from friends, relatives and people who had been in contact with the couple; and professional opinions from experts in various fields, including pathology and graphology.

Many people who knew Cobain do not believe that he killed himself. Either does Tom Grant, a private investigator hired by Courtney Love to find Cobain after he left the drug treatment center. Grant does not accept the verdict of suicide and has done everything in his power to convince the authorities to reopen the investigation into Cobain's death. Grant's involvement in the case and his crusade are explained in great detail. The address for Grant's Internet website, which receives up to one million hits a year, is listed.

Compelling arguments are presented to disprove the suicide verdict, which was arrived at very quickly after Cobain's death. The medical examiner at the scene, coincidentally, was a friend of Courtney Love's. According to the expert cited in the book, Cobain could not have shot himself with a shotgun given the amount of heroin found in his body: he would have passed out immediately after receiving that amount of the drug.

A musician who passed a lie detector test stating that Courtney Love had offered him several thousand dollars to kill Cobain was found dead under strange circumstances only weeks later.

There were no fingerprints found on the shotgun that inflicted a wound on Cobain, and what about the so-called suicide note? For starters it does not sound like a suicide note, but rather a note declaring his intention to quit the music business. And then there are the two apparently distinct sets of handwriting on this note, which is reproduced in a photograph.

The book focuses a great deal of suspicion on Courtney Love and her sometimes bizarre behavior before and after Cobain's death. In fact, Love's father is on record stating that he believes his daughter murdered her husband. Shockingly, Grant implicates Love in both the death of her husband as well as her bandmate in the group Hole, Kristen Pfaff.

"Who Killed Kurt Cobain?" was written by two Canadian investigative journalists, Ian Halperin and Max Wallace. Halperin and Wallaces were cowinners of the "Rolling Stone" magazine Award for Investigative Journalism. No concrete proof of the murder theory is contained within the book, although the information is well presented.

"Who Killed Kurt Cobain?" will definitely be of interest to Nirvana fans, and to those who like to ponder real-life mysteries. Because the death of Kurt Cobain was as tragic as it was mysterious.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT summary of facts regarding the death of Cobain, June 24, 1998

By A Customer

When I first heard a story that Kurt Cobain did not commit suicide but instead was murdered I found it implausible and ridiculous, not to mention sick. It must be some wacko's rantings. Everyone knows that Kurt killed himself, right? The disturbed personality, the suicide attempt in Rome, the note...

After reading this book I am left feeling very disturbed that a terrible injustice has gone overlooked by today's media and society.

This book first gives the story of Kurt's life, his phenomenal success and his marriage to Courtney Love. Then in a verifiable and coherent manner lays down an excellent case that Kurt's death was not the obvious suicide as it was portrayed in the media. It points out many unreported or misreported facts that dispute the cut-and-dried suicide theory. It also provides more than enough proof to seriously question the character and motives of Courtney Love.

If you are at all interested in the facts about how Kurt died, and especially if you were affected personally by his words and music, I HIGHLY recommend it. The truth must come out.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why is the murder theory case not re-opened?, January 23, 2000

By	Matthew Pratt (Hampshire, England) - See all my reviews

A superb book full of facts and stories relating to the mysterious events and unsolved circumstances relating to the death of my hero, Kurt Cobain. Was his sucicide note just a musical retirement note to his loving fans? Why is there someone else's handwriting on the so called suicide note? The legal systems in America must re open this case and send whoever killed Cobain down...Courtney Love? I recomend this book to anyone...even if you hated NIRVANA and thought Cobain was just a junkie, read this book and bring Cobain's killer to justice.