Jimi Hendrix 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
| Jimi Hendrix | Kurt Cobain | |
| Field | Music | Music |
| Sub-field | Pop | Rock |
| Born | 1942 | 1967 |
| Died | 1970 | 1994 |
| Country of birth | United States | United States |
| Star sign | Sagittarius | Pisces |
Who they are
Jimi Hendrix
The first instrument Jimi Hendrix ever played was a ukulele with a single string. He found it while helping his father clean out a house in Seattle in 1957, and he spent weeks working out the melody to "Honky Tonk Women" on that single string before his father relented and bought him a five-dollar acoustic guitar. He was fifteen years old, completely self-taught, and he could already hear in his head sounds that no existing guitarist had yet produced. Within four years, by his own account, he had listened to every blues record he could…
Full biography of Jimi Hendrix →
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.
- Both born in United States.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- 25 years separate their births (1942 and 1967).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain?
- Jimi Hendrix. Jimi Hendrix was born in 1942, Kurt Cobain in 1967.
- What field is each of them in?
- Jimi Hendrix is filed under Music (Pop). Kurt Cobain is filed under Music (Rock).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.