Cobain and Prefontaine: Same Guy?

From a distance, they couldn't be more different. Kurt Cobain, guitar-smashing rock star hooked on heroin. Steve Prefontaine, record-smashing track star hooked on speed. But a closer look reveals some uncanny similarities between these legends. Prefontaine grew up in Coos Bay, Oregon, a logging town of fewer than 20,000 souls located on the rugged Pacific Northwest coast. Cobain grew up in Aberdeen, Washington, a logging town of fewer than 20,000 souls located on the rugged Pacific Northwest coast.

I was born in Aberdeen, Washington.

Northwest Coast. Prefontaine came from a blue-collar family. His dad worked as a welder, his mom as a seamstress. He had no brothers, just a younger sister and an older sister. Cobain also came from a blue-collar family. His dad worked as a car mechanic, his mom as a waitress. He too had no brothers, just a younger sister. Prefontaine was bullied as a kid for being small and weird and sucking at football. Cobain was bullied as a kid for being small and weird and sucking at wrestling. Prefontaine started running competitively at age 14. Cobain started playing guitar at, you guessed it, 14. Prefontaine got his big break at 21, competing in his first Olympics. Cobain got his big break at 21, scoring his first record contract. Prefontaine was an athlete with the soul of an artist. My philosophy is that I'm an artist, he wrote in his journal. I perform an art not with a paintbrush or a camera.

I'm a musician. I perform with bodily movement. Instead of exhibiting my art in a museum or a book or on canvas, I exhibit my art in front of the multitudes.

Cobain was an artist with the soul of an athlete. According to legend, he practiced 10 hours a day for 6 straight months before recording his band's iconic second album, Nevermind. That's more than Kobe Bryant practiced. Now check this out. Prefontaine was 5'9 and weighed 140 pounds. Give or take, he had a mop of blonde hair and was considered handsome. Cobain, 5'9, 140, blonde, and handsome. Both men were known as anti-establishment rebels, critical of the powers that be in their respective fields of endeavor. Prefontaine railed against the exploitation of Olympic athletes like himself, who in his day were not allowed to receive compensation for their work. By the Amateur Athletic Union and other governing bodies, Cobain chafed against corporate exploitation of artists like himself, giving the middle finger to his own record label by titling a song Radio Friendly Unit Shifter. Steve Prefontaine died tragically, violently, and young. In his mid-twenties, unintentionally killing himself in a single-car accident. Kurt Cobain died tragically, violently, and young in his mid-twenties, intentionally killing himself with a single shotgun blast to the head. Prefontaine passed away on the 30th of May. Cobain's private family memorial service was held 19 years later. To the day, on the 30th of May. Prefontaine, Cobain, they rhyme. So what do we make of the uncanny similarities between these great men? Honestly, I have no fucking idea. But you gotta admit, it's kinda neat.