Guitar Hero's use of Cobain offends surviving Nirvana membersGuitar Hero's use of Cobain offends surviving Nirvana membersKrist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, the surviving members of the iconic Seattle band Nirvana, on Thursday issued a statement objecting to the use of the late Kurt Cobain's likeness in the popular "Guitar Hero" video game.
Cobain"We want people to know that we are dismayed and very disappointed in the way a facsimile of Kurt is used in the Guitar Hero game. The name and likeness of Kurt Cobain are the sole property of his estate - we have no control whatsoever in that area. While we were aware of Kurt's image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn't know players have the ability to unlock the character. This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in "re-locking" Kurt's character so that this won't continue in the future," Novoselic and Grohl said in the statement.
"It's hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists' music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better."
In a statement, Activision said "Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain's likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero 5."
"Guitar Hero" is a video game in which players can simulate playing guitar and bass to popular songs.
Nirvana, originally formed in the tiny town of Aberdeen, Wash., gained worldwide fame during the "grunge" era of Seattle music in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Along with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and Screaming Trees, they came to symbolize the often dark fusion of early 1970s heavy metal and late 1970s punk that typified the "Seattle sound." For many fans, Nirvana was the purest expression of the genre.
Cobain, Nirvana's guitarist, committed suicide in April of 1994.
