And on the anniversary of his death, a series of previously unreleased images have emerged from the day the 27-year-old rocker's body was discovered in his Seattle, Washington home.
The images, first released on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, show the scene surrounding Kurt's house in the first few hours after his body was discovered by an electrician on April 8, 1994.
Suicide scene: Kurt Cobain's body is removed from his Seattle home in a newly-released image from on April 8, 1994
Remembering Kurt: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer released previously
unpublished images of Nirvana singer home in the hours after he was
found dead
A
later investigation determined the rocker had been dead for three days
before being found with a shotgun across his chest and a visible head
wound.
The images were taken by sports photographer Mike Urban and fellow P-I photographer Phil Webber.
Both photographers scoped out the area for the best views, including making their way into the yard of a house behind Cobain's home.
Over forty images make up the set, including pictures of fans who immediately rushed to the scene upon hearing the news.The images were taken by sports photographer Mike Urban and fellow P-I photographer Phil Webber.
Both photographers scoped out the area for the best views, including making their way into the yard of a house behind Cobain's home.
Investigation: Police swarmed upon the home and later revealed he had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound
Crime scene: Kurt's body had been in the home for days before being discovered
So young: Kurt was only 27 when he killed himself
There are also images after Kurt's memorial of friends and family embracing, remembering the man who redefined rock music in the 1990s.
A few of the pictures had been printed in the paper, but many remained undeveloped for the last 19 years.
'Most of them have sat in the same negative sleeves they were placed in the day they were taken,' the newspaper said.
The negatives now reside at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, which houses millions of negatives from the newspaper's archives.
In the years and especially in the month leading up to his death, Cobain had been hospitalised several times for both health and self-induced overdoses.
Kurt's then wife, Courtney Love, has revealed in recent years that she had tried to help Cobain overcome his drug usage, but he ultimately succumbed to his demons.
Private eye: Some of the images were taken from the yard of a nearby home
'I feel guilty': Kurt left a note at the scene that detailed the reasons for his death
'I've never been happier in my life,' he said, just about to celebrate his daughter Frances Bean's second birthday. 'I'm a much happier guy than a lot of people think I am.'
But a suicide note left at the scene by Cobain painted a different picture.
'I still can't get over the frustration, the guilt and empathy I have for everyone. There's a good in all of us and I think I simply love people too much, so much that it makes me feel too f*****g sad,' he wrote.
Unseen: The images sat undeveloped for nearly two decades before being donated and scanned by the Museum of History and Industry
Final look: The images were taken by two photographers at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Mike Urban and Phil Webber
He famously ended the note with a Neil Young quote: 'It's better to burn out than to fade away,' before signing off with 'Peace, love, empathy.'
The rocker begun using heroin in the early 1990s and Courtney, also a drug user, said the couple 'bonded over pharmaceuticals,' after they first met in 1991.
In the weeks before his death, it was reported that Kurt had slid back into his old drug habits and fell into a coma on March 4 after overdosing on a mixture of tranquillisers and champagne.
Then two weeks later, police responded to a call from Courtney who told them Kurt had looked himself in a room and was threatening to kill himself.
It was reported that law enforcement officials found guns and unnamed prescription medication in the house
Broken family: Kurt's wife Courtney Love and their daughter Frances Bean visited the home
Grown up: Frances, now 20, is an artist and engaged to rocker Isaiah Silva
'I told him "You've got to be a good daddy. We've got to be good parents,"' she once recalled.
However, Kurt fled Los Angeles drug treatment facility the Exodus Recovery Center just 36 hours after checking in on March 28.
His mother reported him missing after four days but police were unable to locate him, with the last sightings of the star said to be by neighbours in his Madrona neighbourhood of Seattle.
A few days after his death, a public vigil was held for the singer at a park at Seattle Center drawing thousands of mourners who listened to a recording of Courtney reading out Kurt's suicide note.
The home: Kurt's home in Seattle was 100 miles from where he grew up in Aberdeen, Washington
Grieving: Courtney, pictured in the brown sweater, had been with Kurt since 1990
Investigative journalists Ian Halperin and Max Wallace wrote a book on the subject entitled: Love and Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain which was published in 2004.
Kurt left behind a musical legacy that, despite having only attained mainstream success for a few years, has not been lost on fans and his fellow Nirvana bandmates.
'I like to think that what the world heard in Nirvana's music was the sound of three human beings, three distinct personalities, their inconsistencies and their imperfections proudly on display for everyone to hear,' drummer Dave Grohl said during a speech at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.
Fans: Thousands swarmed the home in the aftermath of Kurt's death, and still traverse to it each year
'When Kurt died I was lost, I was numb,' he admitted. 'The music I had devoted my life to had now betrayed me. I turned off the radio, I put away my records, and packed up my drums.
'I couldn't bear to hear someone else's voice singing about pain, or joy, or love, or hate. Not one note. It just hurt much too much.'
To commemorate the 20 years since the release of the band's hit album Nevermind, Grohl directed a documentary about the band called Sound City, which debuted at this year's Sundance Festival.
Sound City is the Van Nuys studio in Los Angeles where Nirvana recorded their breakthrough album Nevermind back in 1991.
Following Kurt's death Frances was bought up by her mother Courtney until 2009 when she filed a restraining order against her.
The band: Nirvana bandmates (from left) Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl and Kurt Cobain in 1993
In
the order, she claimed that Love's haphazard life had led to the death
of the family pets; the cat became entangled in Love's 'Etsy fabrics,
boxes of paperwork, trash and other possessions,' according to the court
papers, while the dog swallowed several of Love’s stash of prescription
pills.
Frances even included her surviving dog Uncle Fester on the order so he would not fall victim to another accident.
After the order was granted, Frances chose initially to live with her paternal grandmother Wendy O'Connor, and now has a residence in Los Angeles where she lives quietly away from the spotlight with her fiancé, Isaiah Silva.
Prior to the troubles with her mother, she spoke to Harper's Bazaar about her famous parentage.
'I'm famous by default,' she said. 'I came out of the womb and people wanted to know who I was because of my parents.
'If you're a big Nirvana fan, a big Hole fan, then I understand why you would want to get to know me, but I'm not my parents. People need to wait until I've done something valid with my life.'
Frances even included her surviving dog Uncle Fester on the order so he would not fall victim to another accident.
After the order was granted, Frances chose initially to live with her paternal grandmother Wendy O'Connor, and now has a residence in Los Angeles where she lives quietly away from the spotlight with her fiancé, Isaiah Silva.
Prior to the troubles with her mother, she spoke to Harper's Bazaar about her famous parentage.
'I'm famous by default,' she said. 'I came out of the womb and people wanted to know who I was because of my parents.
'If you're a big Nirvana fan, a big Hole fan, then I understand why you would want to get to know me, but I'm not my parents. People need to wait until I've done something valid with my life.'
Happier times: Kurt, pictured with Courtney Love and daughter Frances Bean in 1993
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