Last week’s editorial [Hitsville, April 15] about Kurt Cobain’s life and death was insulting to Rock music fans everywhere. By trivializing rock legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Bruce Springsteen and Prince, the Reader alienated everyone but the trendiest “alternative” fans. And to make matters worse, the Reader idolized Cobain as the savior of rock music. In fact, Cobain really offered nothing innovative to rock music; his message was “life sucks, and you suck, so buy my record!” (Smells like Punk Rock.) In addition, his “rebellious” attitude about hating fame, fortune and fans is completely antithetical. I mean isn’t it at least a little bit hypocritical for someone to make millions of dollars by singing, “I hate making millions of dollars”? Now I respect Cobain for his music and for providing a great outlet for disaffected teenagers, but if the pressures of stardom were really that bad, I’m sure MTV wouldn’t have minded if Nirvana did just a few less videos, “Unplugged” specials and interviews.
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