1990 was a shitty year for Kurt Cobain for having to fire Chad Channing get out of sub pop and be out of money, but it was until September that Nirvana would be the concert star of the concert and that meant something big to him.
The photograph of Kurt Cobain in tears was taken by Ian Tilton at Motor Sports International Garage in Seattle, WA on September 22, 1990. Cobain crying off stage after trashing his gear from the angsty performance. “What can they do? They weren’t able to tell me to stop crying,” he said. “So I didn’t mind. They didn’t know my problem well, and they even thought at some point that I was going to die of sadness.”
“What I really love about it is that it is a very real moment, and he allowed it. Other artists would have said, ‘Not now, lan, please!’ It is very unusual,” added Tilton, “for anyone from a band to show such vulnerability!”
Tilton watched Cobain smash his guitar through an amplifier and walk offstage. He followed him backstage. The pent-up emotion “just had to go somewhere,” and Cobain burst into tears.
“They did a brilliant gig, I got great pics of him smashing the guitar and then he went backstage and burst into tears,” Tilton recalled. “I thought it would make a good photo, but should l take it because it is a vulnerable moment? I am not a paparazzi, l am a documentary photographer. He knew l wasn’t pushy and l took a shot, he didn’t say no. I took three in all and the third shot he was crying, in the second shot he was sort of ok and the third one he was smiling. A minute between the three was about all this different kind of energy inside him and when he came backstage the energy had to go somewhere. Normally rock stars want to control how they look to the public.”
His band was with him and they saw him cry, so it was probably not the first time he did. The picture represents the most vulnerable and human side of an artist like Kurt Cobain after one of the best Nirvana show. This is the only show with Dan Peters (Mudhoney) on drums, while Dave Grohl was in the audience.
Below are some of amazing photographs of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana performing live taken by Ian Tilton in Seattle on September 22, 1990:
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