This Day in History: br Kurt Cobain Dies By Suicide April 5, 1994 The Nirvana frontman died by br suicide in his Seattle home br after struggling with drug br addiction and depression for years. The rock icon had checked br himself out of a Los Angeles br rehab just a week earlier. His body wasn't discovered br until three days later when br an electrician visited the home br to install a security system. Police found a suicide note br written by Cobain, in which br he quoted the Neil Young lyric that br it's “better to burn out than to fade away.” Despite being ruled a suicide br by authorities, Cobain's death br has been widely blamed on br his partner, singer Courtney Love. After the song "Smells Like br Teen Spirit" rocketed Nirvana to br world wide fame, Cobain had been br referred to as "the spokesman of a generation." He was just br 27 years old br when he died.