April 6, 2011, Aberdeen, Washington – A statue honoring Kurt Cobain was unveiled yesterday on the 17th anniversary of his death in his hometown of Aberdeen, under the Young Street Bridge. (click here to see ABC's video on-line of the event.)
The bridge was immortalized in his song, Something In The Way while with his band Nirvana. (See our interview with the man responsible for the statue and our video of the bridge.)
The cement statue was designed by Lora and Kim Malakoff in the shape of the Fender guitar that Kurt had specially made for him. A ribbon, which moves with the wind, includes lyrics from Kurt's song, On A Plain--"One more special message to go, and then I'm done and I can go home."
Many fans came to see the unveiling, some from around the world. The rain stopped in time for the event as though pre-ordained. Everyone was pleased with the statue.
Tori Kovach is the man who initiated the statue project and saw it through to the end. He said, “The ceremony went well. The weather was good. Up to the time of the ceremony, it had been windy, rainy, and cold. But just in time for the unveiling, it all stopped. It was calm and dry throughout the event. It was a good crowd. Many people were there, many TV stations covered the event, and TMZ was there as well."
Talking about people who came, he continued, “Denny Jackson, my co-conspirator in this whole thing (the cleanup of the park, the signs and the statue) was the emcee; Mayor Bill Simpson gave a speech; other attendees included people from the Chamber of Commerce as well as members of the official Kurt Cobain Committee, Paul Fritz, and Jeff Burlingame; Kurt’s grandfather Leland Cobain of Montesano, and Nirvana’s first drummer, Aaron Burckhard; and Gillian Gaar (author of Nirvana's In Utero, Rough Guide to Nirvana; Seattle Pop Culture Examiner and Goldmine writer)."
Tori said the statue was received very well by the crowd, and that people came from other countries to see the statue.“Everyone was appreciative of the statue and the work done in this park to commemorate Kurt Cobain, many people thanked me. There were people from Chile, New Hampshire, and even Sweden. You know, there are many notable people from Aberdeen who also deserve recognition, but someone like Cobain---he touched people's hearts all over the world with his music."
The Mayor told the crowd, ‘The City of Aberdeen appreciates the fact that there is now a focal point we can send people to, to pay tribute to Kurt Cobain in Aberdeen.’
Kurt's grandfather, Leland Cobain was moved by the statue and was there to commemorate the anniversary for his grandson. In a phone conversation he said, "The ceremony was real nice; the statue was really nice and so is the park there. Alot of people came, maybe 75-100. People came from all around, Canada and Sweden."
Gillian Gaar commented on the significance of the guitar and the ribbon, "The ribbon that goes around it is very interesting---it moves; which makes it more of a living statue. And the guitar fits in with a wider appeal. It translates well, since the guitar signifies the music, so there's a wider appeal."
Mitch Holmquist, Nirvana fan, agreed. "The statue is wonderful, and the guitar is great. I'm glad it's not a bust of Kurt--which I think Kurt would appreciate. It's not about HIM, it's about the music he made. And that's the important thing. The ribbon around the guitar actually flaps in the wind."
Our congratulations and thanks to Tori, Denny and the creators of the statue, Lora and Kim Malakoff for honoring Kurt Cobain.
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