The first annual Kurt Cobain Day has been celebrated by residents of the Washington town, Aberdeen, where the late Nirvana frontman was born and lived for much of his life. It has been nearly 20 years since the singer and guitarist took his own life due to heroin addiction and depression but residents of the town now feel that the time is right to mark Cobain's birthday every year.

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"Aberdeen residents may justifiably take pride in the role our community played in the life of Kurt Cobain," said mayor Bill Simpson recently, as he officially confirmed the celebration, adding, "the international recognition our community has gained from its connections with Kurt Cobain and his artistic achievements," via The Independent.

Aberdeen can also lay claim to being the first place where Nirvana's first rehearsals took place with bassist Krist Novoselic. However, the band found success only after leaving for Washington then Seattle and Cobain used to discuss his rather unhappy upbringing in the harbor town. His parents divorced when they lived in the town and Cobain also dropped out of the high school that he was attending there.


The town's plans appear to have been prompted by another Washington town, Hoquiam, and its similar plans for a Kurt Cobain day to celebrate the rocker having lived there once. Aberdeen has been known to mark its most famous son in the past, with the message "Come As You Are" being added to the town's welcome sign, referencing Nirvana's Nevermind track.

Nirvana will soon be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, 25 years after their 'Bleach' debut was released.

Today's celebrations will include events at the Aberdeen Museum of History, where a statue of Cobain by local sculptor Randi Hubbard is being added to the museum's existing Nirvana exhibit. Hubbard has apparently been building the statue since 1994 with pieces of pipe and concrete but the town was initially concerned about Cobain's drug abuse.

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Warren Mason, the musician and Aberdeen resident who taught Cobain to play guitar reflected upon meeting Kurt for the first time when he was in a band with Kurt's uncle Chuck ("a little blonde kid watching while we jammed") and showing him how to flip the strings on his guitar to suit his left-handedness. On a mournful note, Mason noted that Aberdeen's music scene isn't what it once was: "The music scene here," he says, "has really gone downhill."

Kurt Cobain would have been 47 today.

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