Mural to mark anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death unveiled in city centre

A new mural to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Kurt Cobain has been revealed in Manchester City Centre.

The mural, which is located at The Bread Shed, a live music venue just off Oxford Road, commemorates the singer who was found dead after taking his own life on 5 April, 1994. It's completion has been timed to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week and features a phone number for a mental health charity which provides free, confidential support.

Manchester-based social enterprise Headstock commissioned the artwork, and hopes it will raise awareness and 'prevent further tragedies' from happening. The social enterprise aims to create music-led solutions to raise money and awareness for mental health charities.

READ MORE: Mural to mark anniversary of music legend's death unveiled in Manchester City Centre

"This is the third mural we've done to commemorate a huge music icon and this one of Kurt Cobain is designed to be a celebration of him and his life," explains Headstock founder Atheer Al-Salim. "It's also a chance to reflect and prevent anything happening like this again.

"All the murals have been commissioned to raise awareness of the mental health text message support service, Shout 85258, to celebrate the incredible artist, and prevent further tragedies from happening."

The mural has been created by local artist Akse P19, who was also behind the Ian Curtis mural on the side of the Star & Garter pub which was unveiled to coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day in 2023. Headstock also commissioned a mural of The Prodigy's Keith Flint for the same cause in 2021.

Announcing the mural back in February, Aske 19 wrote on social media: "I'm thrilled to announce my collaboration with @headstockuk once again, as we embark on a meaningful project to create a mural honouring Kurt Cobain. This initiative aims to support the mental health charity @giveusashoutinsta, and we’ve launched a Crowdfunder to cover various expenses associated with the mural’s production, including the artist’s fee, painting materials, and licensing fees for the selected reference image.

"Additionally, we’ll use the proceeds to cover the production and shipping costs of limited edition prints: we’re offering A4 limited edition prints of the mural to those who pledge £50 (with only 50 prints available); for those who pledge £100, you’ll receive an exclusive A3 limited edition print (with only 10 prints available). Join us in making a positive difference in mental health awareness."

Nirvana played two gigs in Manchester - the first at Manchester Polytechnic Students Union on Oxford Road on Tuesday, October 25, 1989. It was the second date on Nirvana's first UK tour alongside Sub Pop labelmates Tad.

Two years later, the group played their second - and last Manchester gig at the Academy on December 4, 1991, three months after the release of their seminal album Nevermind, which would catapult them to superstardom. A concert at the G-Mex in March 1994 was cancelled when the singer was diagnosed with bronchitis and severe laryngitis.

"We were looking for a location in close proximity to Oxford Road, because that's near where to both of those gigs took place," adds Atheer. "We wanted a venue that was a stone's throw away from that.

"In 2021 when we did the Keith Flint mural in London we found one near to The Four Aces Club where Prodigy first played, so the location is really important to us - and we want it to be a music venue. In this case Bread Shed was a good fit for what we wanted to do."

Atheer set up Headstock in 2019 in response to the 'disproportionate' level of mental health issues across Greater Manchester and the North West, it was originally going to host a music festival but two weeks before the event was scheduled to take place, the country went into lockdown, forcing the organisation to adapt.

Now repositioned as a social enterprise, it works to create music-led solutions to raise money and awareness for mental health charities. "Going into lockdown meant we had to refocus, and we've now got big plans for later this year in terms of a music event.

"For now, the murals are designed to spark conversation, break down stigma and raise awareness around Shout 85258. We want to get to a point where we don't have to curate these murals - where suicide isn't the answer for people."

The iconic mural of late Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis returned to Manchester last year after it was controversially painted over with an advertisement. It was re-painted by Akse- P19 at the Star and Garter pub in the city centre.

There was outrage a couple of years ago when the former iconic wall mural, on Port Street in the Northern Quarter, was painted over with an advert for local rapper Aitch. The wall painting depicted a black and white portrait painting of the Stretford Joy Division frontman and was first unveiled back in 2020 before it was then covered to make way for an ad for the then-latest album by Aitch.

Headstock then applied for planning permission to repaint the artwork on the side of the Star and Garter pub on Fairfield Street, near Piccadilly Station. A second mural was unveiled last September on the side of the pub.