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Music History

The Kurt Cobain Death Announcement from April 1994

1 year ago by Alan Cross | April 5, 2011 12:39 pm

Out of all the things I’ve done on the radio over years, this is the single most-requested aircheck.

Once you hit “play,” you’ll hear a condensed version of the events on the afternoon of Friday, April 8, 1994.  Do you remember where you were?

Send to a friend Filed Under: Music History
Tagged Under: Kurt Cobain, Nirvana

• 7

• Aaron

  April 5, 2011 at 8:49 pm

  An egregious error right at the end? Was there confusion at the time about his age? I did not hear this one live, but I do have a pretty good memory of the Michael Hutchence announcement a few years later.

  (Reply)
  • Alan Cross

    April 5, 2011 at 8:59 pm

    ‘Tis true that there was confusion about Kurt’s age at the time. All we had to go on was the wire report, which is what I read verbatim. After all, this was the Olden Dayes before the Internet. Fact-checking on fast-breaking news stories was much to be desired.

    (Reply)
• Tim Hevesi

  April 5, 2011 at 8:57 pm

  I remember it well. I had just finished up having a CD mastered by George Graves at the Lacquer Channel in TO and was on the 401 heading back home when I heard the news on the radio. It was a shock. As a music producer, I was always buying music as a form of research, to stay up to date with the current sounds and production styles, and “In Utero”, produced by Steve Albini and Nirvana was one of those. I thought it was great. Always unfortunate when a talent is lost.

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• black widow

  April 5, 2011 at 9:46 pm

  i consider myself really, really lucky to have seen nirvana at maple leaf gardens in toronto several months before he died. it sends chills up my spine and gives me goosebumps just to hear this again — i remember you announcing it live, alan. i was in grad school at the time, in the newspaper office, and we all gathered around the radio (which was always on) to hear the details. i remember one of my classmates actually laughing about what a “loser” cobain was, but all i could help thinking of was his baby daughter and how unbelievably hopeless he must have felt to do what he did.

  (Reply)

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• girl

  April 6, 2011 at 3:36 am

  April 5th or April 8th?

  (Reply)
  • Alan Cross

    April 6, 2011 at 6:45 am

    We heard that he died on April 8. Forensic indicate that he shot himself on April 5. Ish.

    (Reply)

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