Jacqueline du Pré vs Kurt Cobain
Two music prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Jacqueline du Pré | Kurt Cobain | |
| Field | Music | Music |
| Sub-field | Classical | Rock |
| Born | 1945 | 1967 |
| Died | 1987 | 1994 |
| Country of birth | United Kingdom | United States |
| Star sign | Aquarius | Pisces |
Who they are
Jacqueline du Pré
There is a recording made in 1965, when Jacqueline du Pré was nineteen years old, that classical musicians still use as a reference point for what the cello can express. She was performing Elgar's Cello Concerto in E minor — a late, elegiac work that Elgar wrote in 1919, after the destruction of the First World War, and which had been considered a minor piece of his output until du Pré played it. Her performance — large-scaled, deeply personal, technically sovereign — transformed the concerto's reputation overnight. It is now considered one of the great…
Full biography of Jacqueline du Pré →
Kurt Cobain
On September 24, 1991, a twenty-four-year-old guitarist from Aberdeen, Washington, released his band's second album on a major label with a budget of $65,000 and expectations calibrated for modest alternative success — perhaps 250,000 copies sold, a strong college radio profile, a tour. Instead, Nevermind by Nirvana sold 300,000 copies in its first week, knocked Michael Jackson off the number one spot on the Billboard 200 by January, and by the time it stopped charting had sold over thirty million copies worldwide. The album did not merely succeed commercially. It ended an era. Within eighteen…
Full biography of Kurt Cobain →
What they share
- Both are held here under Music.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: United Kingdom and United States.
- 22 years separate their births (1945 and 1967).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Jacqueline du Pré or Kurt Cobain?
- Jacqueline du Pré. Jacqueline du Pré was born in 1945, Kurt Cobain in 1967.
- What field is each of them in?
- Jacqueline du Pré is filed under Music (Classical). Kurt Cobain is filed under Music (Rock).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.