Kristian Willingham
HIS 460
Digital Humanties Project: "Does it Still Smell Like Teen Spirit?"
Completed October 17, 2016
I chose this topic in order to discover how the public perception of popular grunge artists has changed as they have shift in and out of the public eye. I picked five prominent artists to research: Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Layne Staley of Alice in Chains, Buzz Osbourne of Melvins, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. I decided to pick these five artists because of their striking similarities and backgrounds. For one, all of these artists achieved some form of commercial success; for some, such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, this came in the form of Top 40 hits. For the other artists, they became well known in their genres and communities. They also all helped to pioneer the genre of Grunge in Seattle, WA. Being very close in age, all a part of Generation X, their music was more than just musically similar; the themes and lyrics all had a similar feel as well.
In theory, all of these artists would be similarly remembered and discussed in the formation of Grunge, but the reality I had noticed was that Nirvana, was more specifically remembered (especially Kurt Cobain) over anyone else. These were the questions I approached when beginning this project:
What I found, overwhelmingly, is that Kurt Cobain was more heavily searched, discussed in popular culture, and listened to today. His suicide is to the point of being completely sensationalized; even t-shirts bearing his suicide note can be found through various retailers online. A documentary premiering last year examined the details of the investigation surrounding his death that is more than 20 years past now.
Layne Staley, while dying young as well, had been out of the spotlight for a few years before his death, was far less covered by press and far less sensationalized. While he has still been memorialized, Alice in Chains continued on after his death, in a time when Grunge was no longer in vogue; with Cobain's death came the end of Nirvana, and, in many ways, the beginning of the decline of Grunge.
Though it is to a far lesser degree, Osbourne, Vedder, and Cornell are still respected and honored; however, they are now 50-somethings, fathers, and gray-haired. Cobain, in contrast, is remembered only as old as he was in 1994; a young, handsome, troubled twenty-something. The articles, books, and documentaries released about these artists have a different theme than those about Cobain or Staley. Each seems to end with a note of "we can't wait to see what they do next, they're not done yet" rather than the question: "what could they have done?" What a complicated question it is. Would further ventures had been nearly as successful. If Nirvana was still releasing albums today, would it have the same public reaction today? When looking at groups like Pearl Jam or Soundgarden, the reality is likely not. The continuing success of Nirvana, it seems, can be largely placed on Cobain's early death.
In theory, all of these artists would be similarly remembered and discussed in the formation of Grunge, but the reality I had noticed was that Nirvana, was more specifically remembered (especially Kurt Cobain) over anyone else. These were the questions I approached when beginning this project:
- How were these artists similar?
- To what degree did they reach commercial success?
- How important was Grunge as a genre? Did it permeate into popular culture?
- What was the difference in opinion of the artists that were still alive and the ones that were not?
- Which of the artists are more heavily mentioned online today?
- Where has popularity faded amongst the artists?
- How many people are still listening to each artist?
What I found, overwhelmingly, is that Kurt Cobain was more heavily searched, discussed in popular culture, and listened to today. His suicide is to the point of being completely sensationalized; even t-shirts bearing his suicide note can be found through various retailers online. A documentary premiering last year examined the details of the investigation surrounding his death that is more than 20 years past now.
Layne Staley, while dying young as well, had been out of the spotlight for a few years before his death, was far less covered by press and far less sensationalized. While he has still been memorialized, Alice in Chains continued on after his death, in a time when Grunge was no longer in vogue; with Cobain's death came the end of Nirvana, and, in many ways, the beginning of the decline of Grunge.
Though it is to a far lesser degree, Osbourne, Vedder, and Cornell are still respected and honored; however, they are now 50-somethings, fathers, and gray-haired. Cobain, in contrast, is remembered only as old as he was in 1994; a young, handsome, troubled twenty-something. The articles, books, and documentaries released about these artists have a different theme than those about Cobain or Staley. Each seems to end with a note of "we can't wait to see what they do next, they're not done yet" rather than the question: "what could they have done?" What a complicated question it is. Would further ventures had been nearly as successful. If Nirvana was still releasing albums today, would it have the same public reaction today? When looking at groups like Pearl Jam or Soundgarden, the reality is likely not. The continuing success of Nirvana, it seems, can be largely placed on Cobain's early death.