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Case file s1643 · Music and sport · 1994

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1994

Kurt Cobain: Nirvana around 1992 (cropped) — Kurt Cobain. P.B. Rage from USA. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Died: 5 April 1994
Place: Seattle, Washington · United States
Field: grunge rock (Nirvana) · Music on the timeline
Legal tradition: US common law (Washington, California) · Common law
Historical event: Grunge; the 1990s alternative rock boom
Religion: Kurt Cobain: Atheist and agnostic (recorded as agnosticism on Wikidata)

Music and sport Died without a will Burned papers and destroyed work Postwar North America United States

Kurt Cobain left no will; his widow sued his bandmates for Nirvana, sold a quarter of his songs, and his Unplugged guitar went to his daughter's ex-husband

Kurt Cobain shot himself above the garage of his $1.1 million Lake Washington home. Papers filed in King County Superior Court said he apparently left no will. His widow, Courtney Love, and their 21-month-old daughter, Frances Bean, were the only heirs. A judge appointed Love executor. The first filing listed at least $1.2 million in assets and under $740,000 in debts. In 2001 Love sued Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic to dissolve the Nirvana partnership and take sole control of the band's legacy. Her complaint called Nirvana a one-man show. A Washington court blocked release of "You Know You're Right," Cobain's last recording. The two sides settled in September 2002 and the song was released. In March 2006 Love sold 25 percent of her share of the Nirvana publishing catalog to Larry Mestel of Primary Wave; a source put the price above $50 million^†. On 30 May 1999 some of Cobain's ashes were sealed in a stupa built by Tibetan monks at an undisclosed location. In 2018 Frances Bean's divorce settlement left her ex-husband, Isaiah Silva, the 1959 Martin D-18E Cobain played on MTV Unplugged. Silva said it was a gift. In June 2020 it sold at Julien's Auctions for $6.01 million. Silva sued Love, alleging she sent men to seize the guitar; she denied it. They settled in March 2022 on undisclosed terms.

What the law took from it

A musician with no will leaves his band partnership, his songs and his instruments to whoever survives him, and each becomes a separate lawsuit.

Sources

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Kurt Cobain left no will; his widow sued his bandmates for Nirvana, sold a quarter of his songs, and his Unplugged guitar went to his daughter's ex-husband,” story s1643, https://www.celebrity.estate/kurt-cobain-1994, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Music and sport Died without a will Burned papers and destroyed work Postwar North America Common law United States