Kurt Cobain Said He Thought He Was Gay As A Child In Unearthed Jon Savage Interview

Newly Unearthed Interview Reveals Kurt Cobain Thought He Might've Been Gay
Kurt Cobain of Nirvana during the taping of MTV Unplugged at Sony Studios in New York City, 11/18/93. Photo by Frank Micelotta. *** Special Rates Apply *** Call for Rates ***
Kurt Cobain of Nirvana during the taping of MTV Unplugged at Sony Studios in New York City, 11/18/93. Photo by Frank Micelotta. *** Special Rates Apply *** Call for Rates ***

Kurt Cobain opened up about thinking he was gay as a youth in a 20-year-old interview recently unearthed by PBS.

In July 1993, the rock legend sat down for an interview with music journalist Jon Savage in New York City to discuss the topic of identity. Audio from the interview was unearthed by PBS and is featured as the latest installment on the YouTube channel, "Blank on Blank."

In the recording, Cobain can be heard describing how "different" and "alienated" he felt in high school. At one point, Savage asked if he had problems with people thinking he was gay.

"Yeah. Yeah. I even thought that I was gay," Cobain responded. "I thought that might be the solution to my problem. Although I never experimented with it, I had a gay friend, and then my mother wouldn't allow me to be friends with him anymore because... well, she's homophobic. It was real devastating because finally I found a male friend who I actually hugged and was affectionate too, and we talked about a lot of things... I couldn't hang out with him anymore."

This is not the first time the late Nirvana frontman spoke frankly about his sexuality. In 1993, Cobain gave a candid interview to the Advocate and discussed how he is "gay in spirit" and "probably could be bisexual."

"I’ve always been a really sickly, feminine person anyhow, so I thought I was gay for a while because I didn’t find any of the girls in my high school attractive at all," he said. "They had really awful haircuts and fucked-up attitudes. So I thought I would try to be gay for a while, but I’m just more sexually attracted to women. But I’m really glad that I found a few gay friends, because it totally saved me from becoming a monk or something."

The rocker has long been regarded as an ally of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. His inclusive attitude both musically and literally helped others who felt they were different, including Patty Schemel, the former drummer for Courtney Love's band, Hole.

"When Kurt [Cobain] came along, he said -- through his music and the way he spoke about things -- that freaks are cool," Schemel told Out magazine last year. "He said that being gay is cool, and that made the climate even better for us."

Listen to Cobain's full interview with Savage below.

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