Music Kurt Cobain's Life in Photos By Madeline Boardman Madeline Boardman Madeline Boardman is a former digital features director at Entertainment Weekly. She left EW in 2017. EW's editorial guidelines Published on February 20, 2017 09:00AM EST Trending Videos Close this video player 01 of 22 Kurt Cobain Through the Years Kevin Mazur/WireImage Born in Aberdeen, Wash. on Feb. 20, 1967, Kurt Cobain rose to fame in the early '90s as a part of Nirvana. The rocker, who served as the grunge band's lead vocalist and guitar player, released three studio albums with the group before he died at the age of 27 on April 5, 1994. See photos of him through the years, ahead. 02 of 22 Kurt Cobain in 1990 Kevin Mazur/WireImage 03 of 22 Kurt Cobain in New York City on 1990 Kevin Mazur/WireImage 04 of 22 Kurt Cobain Performing at the Reading Festival on August 23, 1991 Mick Hutson/Redferns 05 of 22 Kurt Cobain in Tokyo in November 1991 Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images 06 of 22 Kurt Cobain Performing in Frankfurt, Germany on November 12, 1991 Paul Bergen/Redferns 07 of 22 Kurt Cobain at Hilversum Studios in the Netherlands on November 25, 1991 Michel Linssen/Redferns 08 of 22 Kurt Cobain at Hilversum Studios in the Netherlands on November 25, 1991 Michel Linssen/Redferns 09 of 22 Kurt Cobain at Hilversum Studios in the Netherlands on November 25, 1991 Michel Linssen/Redferns 10 of 22 Kurt Cobain at Paradiso in Amsterdam on November 25, 1991 Peter Pakvis/Redferns 11 of 22 Kurt Cobain at the Forum in Los Angeles on December 27, 1991 Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage 12 of 22 Kurt Cobain With Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl in 1992 JA Barratt/Photoshot/Getty Images 13 of 22 Kurt Cobain at the Reading Festival on August 30, 1992 Mick Hutson/Redferns 14 of 22 Kurt Cobain With Courtney Love at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on September 27, 1992 Lindsay Brice/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images 15 of 22 Kurt Cobain With Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic on September 10, 1992 Kevin Mazur Archive/WireImage 16 of 22 Kurt Cobain on September 10, 1992 Frank Micelotta/Getty Images 17 of 22 Kurt Cobain With Courtney Love and Frances Bean Cobain at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards on September 2, 1993 Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic 18 of 22 Kurt Cobain at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards on September 2, 1993 Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images 19 of 22 Kurt Cobain With Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic on November 12, 1993 Paul Bergen/Redferns 20 of 22 Kurt Cobain Filming MTV Unplugged in New York City on November 18, 1993 Frank Micelotta/Getty Images 21 of 22 Kurt Cobain on MTV Live and Loud in December 1993 Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic 22 of 22 Kurt Cobain Performing in Modena, Italy on February 21, 1994 Raffaella Cavalieri/Redferns