Music

The first Kurt Cobain Day is coming this February

by Mark Teo

While Kurt Cobain is typically associated with Seattle’s early ’90s grunge scene, Nirvana’s story began in the Pacific Northwestern logging town of Aberdeen, Washington. It was there that the iconic singer formed the band with bassist Krist Novoselic, and it was where he attended high school, incubated Nirvana’s sound, and puttered around the Wishkah River (which eventually would lend its name to their live album, From The Muddy Banks of the Wishkah).

Aberdeen, naturally, is plenty proud of their highest-profile export—and the town has announced that they’re naming February 20th, the Nirvana singer’s birthday, Kurt Cobain day.

“Aberdeen residents may justifiably take pride in the role our community played in the life of Kurt Cobain and the international recognition our community has gained from its connections with Kurt Cobain and his artistic achievements,” said Aberdeen mayor Bill Simpson.

The city may also have plans to make extend the day to Kurt Cobain week. But, as The Guardian notes, Aberdeen isn’t the first town to name a day after the “Scentless Apprentice” songwriter. Hoquiam, Washington were the first to have a Kurt Cobain day, as Cobain and Novoselic also spent a small amount of time in the town.

But Aberdeen is the town still credited with Nirvana’s birth. Kurt Cobain Day is added to a list of other memorials: There’s the Kurt Cobain Riverfront Park, the Kurt Cobain Memorial Park, which features a Fender guitar monument, and Aberdeen’s welcome sign is emblazoned with “Come as You Are,” pictured below.

There’s no word on how Aberdeen plans on celebrating Kurt Cobain day, though it’s a fair bet that plenty of Nirvana fans will make the pilgrimage.