Cobain was born in Hoquaim, Washington and spent his early years in Aberdeen, Washington. He moved to college in 1985.
He is best known for the song Smells Like Teen Spirit. He also wrote a song, "Lithium," about the medication lithium carbonate, which is used to treat bipolar disorder. Cobain was highly influential in creating and popularizing what came to be termed 'Grunge' music - a style that evolved as a reaction against the superficiality of 1980s stadium rock and over-the-top metal bands with preened images and elaborate stage shows.
He committed suicide at the age of 27 with a shotgun blast inside his mouth. His death inspired a host of copycat suicides and conspiracy theories regarding his death, chronicled in part in the documentary film Kurt and Courtney.
Kurt Cobain was cremated; one third of his ashes are scattered in a Buddhist temple in New York, one third of his ashes were scattered in the Wishkah River, Washington State, and the rest are with Courtney Love.
