When most people think of iconic frontmen from the 1990s, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain will come to mind. But ask the right conspiracy theorist, and they might suggest Cobain is pulling double duty both as his late former grunge persona and as another highly influential ‘90s frontman.
According to this theory, Cobain faked his death and came back as the bespectacled, brown-eyed lead singer of Weezer, Rivers Cuomo.
The Kurt Cobain Conspiracy Theory
As is often the case with modern conspiracy theories, the Kurt Cobain legend started online and recirculates every few years or so. While some parts of the internet community share the theory for laughs, others stand firm in their beliefs that Cobain faked his suicide in 1994, one month before Weezer’s eponymous “Blue Album” came out. Good timing, right?
A common theme of this Nirvana-turned-Weezer conspiracy is that prior to 2016, there was no public photographic evidence of the scene of Cobain’s suicide. The Seattle Police Department developed four rolls of film and released some images that year, including pictures of the shotgun, a box of drug paraphernalia, a note written by Cobain, and even some pictures of his arms and legs.
The fact that no images of Cobain’s actual face have been released to the public added fuel to the speculative flame for some conspiracy theorists. However, it doesn’t take a crime scene investigator or blood relative to know why releasing such graphic images would be inappropriate. Still, that’s not the only evidence conspiracists use to support their claim.
Other “Evidence” Supporting These Wild Claims
Of the many pieces of “evidence” conspiracy theorists have collected, one of the most common is a perceived physical similarity between the two musicians—namely the brow and nose shape. But that’s really where the likeness ends. Kurt Cobain had an angular face; Cuomo’s features are much softer. Cuomo has dark brown eyes; Cobain had bright blue.
Other theories are more musical: similarities in guitar playing and singing, the fact that both bands were on the same label, schedules that showed that Nirvana and Weezer concerts never overlapped. Cuomo has even performed Nirvana covers under the pseudonym Goat Punishment (which, for the record, has also covered Oasis and Hole). But these are all explainable.
Cuomo has long said Nirvana was one of his favorite bands and biggest influences, despite thinking that Cobain would’ve hated his music. A shared label is hardly proof of a faked suicide, and Weezer wouldn’t have had a comparable touring schedule to Nirvana because they hadn’t even released their debut album until one month after Cobain’s death. As far as Goat Punishment is concerned: what fan of 1990s grunge hasn’t played a Nirvana cover (or twenty)?
In a train of thought that isn’t that dissimilar to the Beatles conspiracies surrounding Paul McCartney’s alleged death, some believe Nirvana’s last album before Cobain’s death was a clue. In Utero translates to “in the uterus” or “in the womb,” which some claim refers to Cobain’s impending rebirth.
Nirvana’s Influence On Weezer
Finally, Rivers Cuomo’s outspoken admiration and reverence for Kurt Cobain—and Nirvana as a whole—have led some to believe that the Weezer frontman has been disguising himself as a new man this whole time. That Cuomo has gone on podcasts like Rick Rubin’s Broken Record and played along with an interview that acts like the theory is true only exacerbates these unfounded rumors.
Conspiracy theories aside, Cuomo’s respect for Cobain is evident in how he speaks about Cobain and his music. In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, Cuomo said, “In some ways, I feel like I was Nirvana’s biggest fan in the Nineties. I’m sure there are a zillion people who would make that claim, but I was just so passionately in love with the music that it made me feel sick. It made my heart hurt.”
The conspiracy theory that Kurt Cobain faked his death just to reinvent himself one month later as Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is certainly one of the stranger music rumors we’ve heard, and we highly doubt it’ll be the last.
Photo by Steve Galli/Shutterstock
Local News
