Kurt Cobain: New Book Highlights ‘Spin’ Photoshoot with Courtney Love, Frances Bean

Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love famously participated in a photoshoot with Spin in 1992. The photoshoot featured the couple and their newborn daughter, Frances Bean. Only five photos were published by Spin, but a new book will feature the release of the entire photoshoot for the very first time.

Family Values: Kurt, Courtney & Frances Bean comes out on June 4 and is currently available for pre-order at powerHouseBooks.com.

Per powerHouse Books, the books feature two unique essays. One essay is by Michael Azerrad, a close friend of Cobain's and the author of Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. The other essay is written by Guzman, the husband-and-wife duo who photographed the iconic music couple and their baby for Spin.

Guzman wrote of their experience of photographing the young family, "Slowly, a narrative of two transcendent artists beside their most tender creation began to unfold upon the studio wall—and those are the images that appear in this book."

Last week marked the 30th anniversary of the death of Kurt Cobain. France Bean Cobain took to Instagram to pay tribute to her father. She shared a series of photos, which included childhood photos of Kurt and a couple of photos of herself with her father when she was just a baby. Frances Bean was about 20 months old when Kurt died by suicide.

Included with her Instagram post was an incredibly poignant caption. Frances Bean wrote, "I wish I could’ve known my Dad. I wish I knew the cadence of his voice, how he liked his coffee or the way it felt to be tucked in after a bedtime story. I always wondered if he would’ve caught tadpoles with me during the muggy Washington summers, or if he smelled of Camel Lights & strawberry Nesquik (his favorites, I’ve been told)."

She continued, "But there is also deep wisdom being on an expedited path to understanding how precious life is. He gifted me a lesson in death that can only come through the LIVED experience of losing someone. It’s the gift of knowing for certain, when we love ourselves & those around us with compassion, with openness, with grace, the more meaningful our time here inherently becomes."

Frances Bean added, "Kurt wrote me a letter before I was born. The last line of it reads, 'Wherever you go or wherever I go, I will always be with you.' He kept this promise because he is present in so many ways. Whether it’s by hearing a song or through the hands we share, in those moments, I get to spend a little time with my dad & he feels transcendent."

She concluded, "To anyone who has wondered what it would’ve looked like to live alongside the people they have lost, I’m holding you in my thoughts today. The meaning of our grief is the same."

Frances Bean's post received many comments, including from Michael Stipe. He wrote, "Oh Frances, you possess a grace and glorious wisdom that stops me in my tracks from time to time, and today is most certainly one of those times. Love is eternal, and this is all the proof we need. AND I had forgotten about the strawberry Nesquik!!!"

Kurt Cobain was born on February 20, 1967. While he was only on the Earth for 27 years, he left an impact that is still felt today.

Many musicians have talked about the impact of the late Nirvana frontman. Billie Joe Armstrong once said of Cobain, "When someone goes that honestly straight to the core of who they are, what they’re feeling, and was able to kind of put it out there, I don’t know, man, it’s amazing. I remember hearing it when 'Nevermind' came out and just thinking, we’ve finally got our Beatles, this era finally got our Beatles, and ever since then it’s never happened again."

Patti Smith said in 1996 she was happy a generation of young people had Nirvana growing up. She noted, "I didn't know anything about Kurt's torments or personal life. I saw the work and the energy, and I was excited by that."

Surprisingly, Cobain also has a lot of love from the rap community. Complex gathered quotes from some of the biggest rappers of all time about how much they admire Cobain. Jay Z likened Cobain to artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who also died at 27 and struggled with substance abuse.

The reach of Cobain has continued as Nirvana is always introduced to new generations. Dave Grohl said during an October 2023 appearance on Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, "What I've realized is that kids these days, there's like a window between the ages of 10 and 13 or maybe 11 and 14, where almost every kid goes through a Nirvana phase."

This impact is why when Cobain-related items go up for auction, they sell for massive price tags. In the past decade, Cobain memorabilia has seemingly become a subset of the entire celebrity auction market.

Want proof? Check out these six items that sold big at auction.

Let's start with the weirdest (and grossest) piece of Cobain memorabilia that sold in recent years. In May 2021, Iconic Auctions sold six strands of the late Nirvana frontman's hair for $14,145. Proceeds from the auction went to The Crew Nation Global Relief Fund for crew workers that were unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Per the item's listing, "Supremely rare presentation of six strands of Kurt Cobain’s hair. Unique presentation on a 8.5” x 11” sheet includes six strands of Cobain’s blonde hair, the largest measuring approximately 2.5,” and housed in a small card with plastic overlay 1.75” x 2.” This one-of-a-kind artifact is entirely fresh-to-market, and accompanied by an impeccable lineage of provenance including images of Kurt posing with the woman who cut this hair, scissors in hand, and a fantastic shot of the hair actually being cut! The lucky friend who trimmed the Nirvana frontman’s iconic blonde locks, was an early confidant, Tessa Osbourne, who cut his hair in 1989—well prior to his “Nevermind” breakthrough—whilst on the “Bleach” Tour."

Not far behind his hair is a used paper plate. (Seriously, we wish we were kidding!) In May 2019, Julien's Auctions sold a used paper plate Cobain wrote a set list on for a 1990 Nirvana show at the 9:30 nightclub in Washington, D.C. The winning bid? $22,400!

Here's one that'll hit you right in the nostalgia: In 2017, Julien's Auctions sold Cobain's Blockbuster Video card. The card was issued at a Los Angeles store location located at 1508 North Orange Grove. The card was estimated to sell for between $400-$600. It ended up selling for $2,187.50.

Cobain's olive-green mohair cardigan he wore during the band's now-legendary appearance on MTV Unplugged sold via Julien's Auctions in October 2019. It sold for a whopping $334,000. That winning bid made it the most expensive sweater to ever be sold at auction. Julien's Auctions originally estimated that the Cobain sweater would sell for between $200,000-$300,000.

Originally estimated to sell between $600,000-$800,000, this unique piece of rock/music video history ended up selling for $4.5 million in May 2022. The electric guitar was yet another piece of Cobain memorabilia sold by Julien's Auctions.

Per a press release from Julien's Auctions, "The guitar was acquired by The Jim Irsay Collection in Indianapolis in a bidding war among collectors and bidders all across the globe who participated live at the Hard Rock Cafe® New York, online at juliensauctions.com and on the phone...In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, the Cobain family is donating a portion of the proceeds of the legendary guitar and select Kurt Cobain items to Kicking The Stigma, the Irsays' initiative to raise awareness about mental health disorders and remove the stigma associated with these illnesses."

Last, but certainly not least, is this truly historic piece of Cobain memorabilia. In June 2020, Julien's Auctions sold the 1959 Martin D-18E Acoustic-Electric guitar Cobain played on MTV Unplugged. The guitar was estimated to sell for $1 million, but it ended up going for $6.01 million!

In the process, it set the following records: World's Most Expensive Guitar, World's Most Expensive Acoustic Guitar, World's Most Expensive Martin Guitar, World's Most Expensive Piece of Memorabilia and World's Most Expensive Nirvana Memorabilia.