Kurt Cobain's final days turned into new opera
Last Days is based on the 2005 movie of the same name
Last updated 7th Apr 2022
The final days of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain are set to be dramatised in a new London opera.
Cobain, who died in April 1994 aged 27, is the loose subject of the Royal Opera House’s new production Last Days, which is adapted from Gus Van Sant’s film of the same name.
Gus Van Sant’s movie Last Days was released in July 2005, and it tells the fictionalised account of the last days of a musician called Blake, who was based on Kurt Cobain.
A description for Last Days on the Royal Opera House’s website reads: “Based on the film Last Days, this haunting world premiere brings a modern tale of self-destruction to the opera stage.”
A synopsis reads: “Blake, a musician, has recently escaped rehab to return home. But he is haunted by objects, visitors and memories distracting him from his true purpose – self-destruction. Adapted from Gus Van Sant’s 2005 film based on the final days of Kurt Cobain, this new opera plunges into the torment that created a modern myth.”
The promotional artwork for the Last Days opera features Kurt Cobain’s signature white sunglasses against a green and black backdrop.
Last Days will run at the venue’s Linbury Theatre from Friday 7th to Tuesday 11th October 2022 and tickets go on sale on 27th July.
The opera has been composed by Oliver Leith, the Royal Opera House’s composer-in-residence, with the libretto by Matt Copson. It’s directed by Matt Copson and Anna Morrissey.
Speaking to The Guardian, Leith said he was a “massive” Nirvana fan and said their music “soundtracked my teens.”
He added: “It’s some of the first music I learned to play on the guitar.I owe a lot of how I now make music to the sound of grunge from that time – I had never really thought about where my experimental mess and repetitions had come from.”
Insisting that Last Days doesn’t sensationalise Cobain’s death, he continued: “We know it is coming. It is used as a lens through which we see everyday somnambulistic life heightened. For example, telling a delivery person to ‘come back another day’ is loaded with tragedy. I think opera also raises the stakes of the quotidian.”
Leith also said he hoped Last Days appeals to a broad spectrum of people, not just Nirvana fans. While it’s about the “inevitable death of a celebrity. It could be any star now.”
Kurt Cobain's life in photos:
Kurt’s childhood home in Aberdeen, Washington
His parents Wendy and Donald Cobain bought the house in 1969 when Kurt was two and he lived there until they separated when he was nine.
Kurt with younger sister by three years Kimberly in the mid 1970s
Kurt celebrates a childhood birthday with his family
Kurt and Kimberly stand outside their Aberdeen home
When their parents split in 1976, Kurt went to live with his father and Kim lived with her mother.
Showcasing an early talent for music, Kurt plays piano at his childhood home
Kurt’s attic bedroom pictured in 2013
More than a quarter of a century after Kurt last habited the room, his graffiti – including an Iron Maiden logo – still adorns the walls.
Led Zeppelin graffiti Kurt penned on his bedroom wall
An Aberdeen Junior High School photo of a young Kurt Cobain
A teenage Kurt at his Washington home
Kurt playing guitar in his attic room
His walls are decorated with Black Flag and hardcore punk band Dr. Know gig posters.
May 1986: Kurt was arrested aged 19
He was arrested for trespassing on an abandoned building in Market Street, Aberdeen. He was also arrested a year earlier for spray painting on pick-up trucks.
1991: Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl in London
August 1991: Nirvana perform at Reading Festival
September 1991: A 'Nevermind' launch show at New York’s Tower Records
5th November 1991: Kurt onstage at Nirvana’s sold-out gig at The Astoria Theatre in London
November 1991: Kurt crowdsurfing in Frankfurt, Germany
1991: Kurt at Hilversum Studios, Holland
1991: Kurt at Hilversum Studios, Holland
August 1992: The Kerrang! Magazine cover featured a very sombre Kurt
It included a play on The Smiths lyrics 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'.
December 1993: A second Kerrang! Magazine cover
16 months later and the tone of the cover is very different with the title: 'Hugs Not Drugs! Kurt Gets Happy!'.
1992: Kurt performing live in a maid’s outfit
1992: Nirvana at the MTV Video Music Awards
August 1992: Nirvana’s legendary Reading Festival performance
9th April 1993: Kurt on-stage with Nirvana at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California
Appearing alongside L7 and The Breeders, the gig was a Bosnian Rape Victim Benefit.
July 1993: Performing at the Roseland Ballroom, New York
1993: Kurt with his wife Courtney Love and one-year-old daughter Frances Bean at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles
Kurt and Courtney married in Hawaii in March 1992 with Kurt infamously wearing his pyjamas to the ceremony!
1993: Kurt at the MTV VMAs ceremony, Los Angeles
1993: At the 10th annual MTV Video Music Awards
Nirvana pose with director Kevin Kerslake after receiving an award for best alternative video for 'In Bloom' at the 10th annual MTV Video Music Awards.
Kurt pretends to pick his nose with daughter Frances Bean
November 1993: Recording Nirvana’s legendary MTV Unplugged session
December 1993: Performing at MTV Live and Loud, Seattle
February 1994: Live at The Palace, Melbourne
25th February 1994: Nirvana live at Palatrussardi indoor arena in Milan Italy
Their last ever gig took place at Terminal 1 in Munich, Germany six days later.
April 1994: Kurt Cobain dies
171 Lake Washington Blvd East Seattle, Washington, the site of Cobain's death.
16th April 1994: The Kerrang! Magazine cover, 11 days after the Nirvana’s legend’s untimely death
The Sonic Youth t-shirt Kurt wore at Nirvana’s final live performance in Munich, March 1994
The garment was auctioned at the Hard Rock Café in London in July 2012.
2011: A small park in Aberdeen was named ‘Kurt Cobain Landing’ in Kurt’s honour
This plaque quoting Something In The Way lyrics overlooks the Wishkah River.