Tuesday marked the 17th anniversary of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's tragic suicide. Cobain's hometown commemorated the day by erecting a statue in his honor. The city of Seattle celebrated Cobain's life by continuing preparation on its Nirvana memorabilia exhibition. And Nirvana superfan Jared Leto honored the anniversary by posting his own homemade Kurt Cobain audition tape on YouTube.
Here is Leto's personal message that accompanied the video:
I heard today (April 5) was the day Kurt passed away 17 years ago. Can't believe it's been that long. So grateful for his contribution and inspiration. Not sure I'd be doing this if it weren't for him. He gave us all permission to create no matter what our skill set and reminded me that dreams are possible. Thanks for that. This made me recall a short piece of film I shot when I heard they were making a film celebrating his life. I made it to explore the character and explore creative possibilities. I never sent it to the studio or to anyone but thought I'd share it now...
-- Jared Leto
Not quite sure whether Leto is referring to Gus Van Sant's Last Days back in 2005 (the lead role "loosely based on Cobain" went to Michael Pitt) or the Heavier Than Heaven adaptation that seems to be eternally "in development." Either way, he's got that whole "hunched over the guitar with his hair obscuring his face" thing down pat in this "Pennyroyal Tea" homage.
ยท Jared Leto/Kurt Cobain [YouTube via Vulture]