On January 15, 1993, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love arrived at Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo, Brazil, for Nirvana’s scheduled performances at the Hollywood Rock Festival. Nirvana were in Brazil to play Hollywood Rock — a two day festival in São Paulo (January 16) and Rio (January 23) in 1993.
Jan. 16: An iconic Nirvana show (Kurt was disengaged after 30 mins) and Courtney danced side of stage. At the end, Kurt smashed up his blue ‘Courtney’ Telecaster guitar and Courtney retrieved the body from the stage.
Jan. 17: After the show, in the early hours of the next day, Courtney and Kurt headed to a party at Der Tempel.
Jan. 20: The couple were interviewed at their hotel and Courtney made a point of showing (quite proudly) a Polaroid photo of her daughter, Frances: “Isn’t she beautiful? She’s already five months old!”
In an interview a few days later when asked why they didn’t bring Bean, Kurt said: “We didn’t know much about Brazil. We were told that it’s very hot here, she’s so tiny that we were afraid she would get sunburned or get sick because of the water, we think it’s better to leave her at home.”
Jan. 21: Courtney and Kurt recorded some demos together with Patty Schemel which were dubbed “the Argentina demos,” despite them actually being recorded in Rio.
One song they recorded that night (with Kurt on bass) went on to become a Hole deep cut called “Drunk in Rio” — also known as “Closing Time.” While never officially released, it was played at many shows in 1994 and 1995. Courtney Love prefaced the song in 1995 saying: “Do you want to hear a song that me and Kurt and Patty wrote when we were drunk? It’s really poppy!”
At an interview conducted at the studio, Kurt said when asked if Courtney and he interfere with each others work: “Well, we just like to be together all the time, you know? We’re best friends, she’s my best friend. And so, when she’s playing music, I like to listen to it and maybe suggest some things. And she does the same thing with me too. She came with us and Patty, her drummer, came too. It’s just a vacation... and this is just a spontaneous thing, for them to just make a few demos and see what they're gonna do with it.”
Jan. 23: Prior to the show in Rio, Kurt, Patty and Courtney went hang gliding together over Floresta da Tijucan. Kurt had gone the previous day with Dave Grohl but he loved it so much he went back the next day. Kurt cut an interview short to go hang gliding.
Interviewer: Do you like hang gliding?
Kurt Cobain: Yeah, I did it yesterday for the first time. It’s a lot of fun. It’s very relaxing. I’ve got to get going. I’m late to go hang gliding. I know it’s a lame excuse to stop an interview, but I have to do it again, I had so much fun yesterday!”
Also at the Rio show, Courtney and Kurt sat side of stage together to watch L7’s set. Kurt wore one of Courtney’s dresses during the encore as well as a tiara owned by Donita Sparks (she bought it at a street stall in Brazil).
Jan. 24: The couple departed the hotel to head back to the U.S on January 24, 1993. Courtney’s carrying No Exit by Julie Burchall.
