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Courtney Love Resurrects Possibility of Kurt Cobain Musical

Kurt Cobain Musical Courtney Love Nirvana

As we noted yesterday, people have been memorializing Kurt Cobain in myriad ways as we near the 20th anniversary of his death. Some, like the plans to turn his childhood home into a museum, are respectful and compassionate. Others, like that beer commercial co-starring Tupac and John Lennon … not so much. We’ll reserve judgment on this one until things progress further, but Courtney Love has resurrected her plan to Cobain’s life into a Broadway musical.

In an interview with NME‘s print edition that’s about to hit newsstands, Love shed more light on the current state of the project. To her credit, the widow is at least discussing it with her and Kurt’s daughter, Frances Bean Cobain.

“After being swarmed by tons of Nirvana fan mail and social media posts pushing for a musical to become a reality, both Frances and I have thought long and hard and agreed that if we can reach up to the highest shelf and select a team of the greatest and most respected writers, producers and directors, then a Broadway musical is very likely to happen,” she said.

“There would have to be a story, and a great story, one that hasn’t been told before,” she added. “I would devote countless hours with an A-team to create a project that reflects Kurt in the most respectful but honest way possible, so that his story, his music, and his legacy can be resurrected on stage for not only the world to see, but more importantly for our daughter to see. I know her father’s spirit will be on that stage, and sitting in that theater with her will be the most emotional experience of our lives.”

Love’s comments are an about-face from 2012. Back then, her manager Sam Lufti admitted in court that they were looking into a re-telling of Cobain’s life. “[Love and I] are currently working on a possible motion picture or Broadway musical based on the Nirvana catalogue, based on her life and Kurt Cobain’s,” he testified, according to the New York Daily News. A few weeks later, Love put the kibosh on any musical.

“There will be no musical,” Love told the Observer at the time. “Sometimes it’s best just to leave things alone.”

Back then, the mercurial Love had some strong words about the commercialization of music, especially when it came to her late husband’s.

“Ryan Adams said something profound: ‘Every time I play my guitar for money, and every time I play my guitar to get laid, I lose a little of my mojo,'” she said. Eight months later, she then gave Jay Z her blessing to use lyrics from Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on his Magna Carta track “Holy Grail.” When asked if she had any qualms about it later, she said, “It’s fine. He paid enough for it.”