Nirvana's Kurt Cobain Makes Post-Mortem Appearance As A Playable Avatar in 'Guitar Hero 5'

Nirvana guitar player and singer Kurt Cobain makes his first ever video game appearance in 'Guitar Hero 5.'

By Eitan Gavish; Source: NY Daily News

Fans of Kurt Cobain will either be thrilled or annoyed at the latest exploitation of the late grunge rock icon.

In an official press release, gaming company Activision confirmed that the legendary Nirvana frontman will be a playable character in their September 1 release of ‘Guitar Hero 5.’

The game will feature two playable songs from Nirvana’s repertoire, the 1991 smash hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and a live version of “Lithium” taken from a performance at England’s Reading festival in 1992.

“Kurt Cobain is one of the most recognizable frontmen in rock-and-roll history,” states the Activision press release, “and it’s an honor to have two of Nirvana’s masterpieces included.”

"'Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is a song that we’ve had at the top of our wish list ever since I came to Guitar Hero,” Tim Riley, Activision’s Vice President of Music Affairs, told Rolling Stone. “Then after three years of working with the different parties, it was like the perfect storm.”

Activision’s long process of acquiring the rights to Nirvana properties involved getting the seal of approval from Courtney Love, Cobain’s widow, as well as former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl and Universal Publishing.

“Courtney supplied us with photos and videos and knew exactly what she wanted Kurt to look like,” Riley told Rolling Stone. “She picked the wardrobe and hair style, which turned out to be the ‘Teen Spirit’ look.”

Nirvana was at the forefront of the Seattle grunge movement in the early ‘90s, and changed the face of music with their release of the teen angst anthem "Nevermind." The band’s fame was cut short when Cobain committed suicide in 1994, citing popularity as being a source of his woes in a final note written to fans.

In 2001, Love sued surviving band members Grohl and Krist Novoselic over ownership to Nirvana’s music. After a year of deliberation, the case ended in a settlement.

Guitar Hero, the popular video game series where players simulate the role of a guitar player in a live rock band, is played by matching a series of rhythms and patterns on a special guitar-shaped controller to an on-screen display.

Members from such bands as Metallica and Aerosmith have previously lent out their images to become playable avatars in the popular music game.

“Guitar Hero 5 ” Adds “Teen Spirit,” Killers, Raconteurs To Track List

Daniel Kreps (Source: Rolling Stone)

As Music Steve and his gang of naked female friends revealed in what appears to be the latest piece of viral Guitar Hero 5 marketing, Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is finally coming to the GH franchise, bringing along with it Queen & David Bowie’s “Under Pressure,” Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing,” the Raconteurs’ “Steady As She Goes” and 11 more tracks to round out the massive and eclectic GH5 on-disc 85-song track list.

Rolling Stone can confirm that also joining the party are Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” Megadeth’s “Sweating Bullets,” Blink-182’s “The Rock Show” and TV on the Radio’s “Wolf Like Me.” But the real coup here is “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” which will join a live version of Nirvana’s “Lithium” in making their music video game debuts. As Rock Daily previously reported, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Beck, the White Stripes and countless more will also be on the disc when GH5 is released on September 1st.

Rock Daily previously gave Guitar Hero 5 a test-drive at this year’s E3 conference. Here are all the newly added GH5 tracks, and all of the 70 previously announced songs:

Newly Announced:

3 Doors Down - “Kryptonite”
Arctic Monkeys - “Brianstorm”
Blink-182 - “The Rock Show”
Dire Straits - “Sultans Of Swing”
Jimmy Eat World - “Bleed American”
Johnny Cash - “Ring Of Fire”
Megadeth - “Sweating Bullets”
Mötley Crüe - “Looks That Kill”
Muse - “Plug In Baby”
Nirvana - “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Queen & David Bowie - “Under Pressure”
Stevie Wonder - “Superstition”
The Killers - “All The Pretty Faces”
The Raconteurs - “Steady As She Goes”
TV On The Radio - “Wolf Like Me”

Previously Announced:

A Perfect Circle - “Judith”
AFI - “Medicate”
Attack! Attack! UK - “You And Me”
Band Of Horses - “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands”
Beastie Boys - “Gratitude”
Beck - “Gamma Ray”
Billy Idol - “Dancing With Myself”
Billy Squier - “Lonely Is The Night”
Blur - “Song 2″
Bob Dylan - “All Along The Watchtower”
Bon Jovi - “You Give Love A Bad Name”
Brand New - “Sowing Season (Yeah)”
The Bronx - “Six Days A Week”
Bush - “Comedown”
Children Of Bodom - “Done With Everything, Die For Nothing”
Coldplay - “In My Place”
Darker My Love - “Blue Day”
Darkest Hour - “Demon(s)”
David Bowie - “Fame”
Deep Purple - “Woman From Tokyo (’99 Remix)”
The Derek Trucks Band - “Younk Funk”
The Duke Spirit - “Send A Little Love Token”
Duran Duran - “Hungry Like The Wolf”
Eagles Of Death Metal - “Wannabe In L.A.”
Elliott Smith - “L.A.”
Elton John - “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)”
Face To Face - “Disconnected”
Garbage - “Only Happy When It Rains”
Gorillaz - “Feel Good Inc.”
Gov’t Mule - “Streamline Woman”
Grand Funk Railroad - “We’re An American Band”
Iggy Pop - “Lust For Life (Live)”
Iron Maiden - “2 Minutes To Midnight”
Jeff Beck - “Scatterbrain (Live)”
John Mellencamp - “Hurts So Good”
Kaiser Chiefs - “Never Miss A Beat”
King Crimson - “21st Century Schizoid Man”
Kings Of Leon - “Sex On Fire”
Kiss - “Shout It Out Loud”
Love and Rockets - “Mirror People”
My Morning Jacket - “One Big Holiday”
Nirvana - “Lithium (Live)”
No Doubt - “Ex-Girlfriend”
Peter Frampton - “Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)”
The Police - “So Lonely”
Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde - “Bring the Noise 20XX”
Queens Of The Stone Age - “Make It Wit Chu”
Rammstein – “Du Hast”
The Rolling Stones - “Sympathy For The Devil”
Rose Hill Drive - “Sneak Out”
Rush - “The Spirit Of Radio (Live)”
Santana - “No One To Depend On (Live)”
Scars On Broadway - “They Say”
Screaming Trees - “Nearly Lost You”
Smashing Pumpkins - “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”
Sonic Youth - “Incinerate”
Spacehog - “In The Meantime”
Sublime - “What I Got”
Sunny Day Real Estate - “Seven”
T. Rex - “20th Century Boy”
The Sword - “Maiden, Mother & Crone”
Thin Lizzy - “Jailbreak”
Thrice - “Deadbolt”
Tom Petty - “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - “American Girl”
Vampire Weekend - “A-Punk”
Weezer - “Why Bother?”
The White Stripes - “Blue Orchid”
Wild Cherry - “Play That Funky Music”
Wolfmother - “Back Round”