Aberdeen, Washington, the hometown of the deceased Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, declared Thursday, February 20th “Kurt Cobain Day.”
What would’ve been Cobain’s 47th birthday celebration, took an awkward turn when a strange statue of a crying Cobain, with one tear, was unveiled in the town’s museum, according to Komo News
Nirvana fans were left confused, shocked and chuckling about the odd occurrence.
Randi Hubbard started his work on the sculpture shortly after 1994 when Cobain died. Cobain’s grandfather apparently frequented Hubb’s Muffler Shop for the past two decades, where Hubbard kept the Cobain statue tucked away. She had a few helping hands from art students in the area.
At one point, Hubbard offered the statue to the city but it was refused, therefore it eventually became accepted into the Aberdeen Museum of History, as reported in Rolling Stone
After the addition of the statue, the museum expects their averaged 5,000 visits a year, to double. The Kurt Cobain holiday included a local rock band, Gebular, who played a 30-minute set and appearances from early Nirvana drummer, Aaron Burckhard and Cobain’s youth guitar teacher, Warren Mason.
Making “Kurt Cobain Day” possible was a tough move. It would help bring tourists and money into the town but also could have been a bad choice due to Cobain’s open contempt for the town and his many acts of crime there.
This awkward tribute has competition from Hoquiam, Washington, another place Cobain called home. In this separate Washington town, April 10th will act as their “Kurt Cobain Day.”
April 10th will also mark the induction of Nirvana into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
