Frances Bean Cobain
Frances Bean Cobain
Frances Bean Cobain | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frances Bean Cobain August 18, 1992 Los Angeles, California,U.S. |
| Other names | Fiddle Tim[1] |
| Occupation |
|
| Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) |
| Spouse(s) | Isaiah Silva [2](m. 2014;div. 2017) |
| Parent(s) | |
| Relatives |
|
Frances Bean Cobain (born August 18, 1992) is the only child of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Hole frontwoman Courtney Love. Cobain controls the publicity rights to her father's name and image.[3]
Frances Bean Cobain | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frances Bean Cobain August 18, 1992 Los Angeles, California,U.S. |
| Other names | Fiddle Tim[1] |
| Occupation |
|
| Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) |
| Spouse(s) | Isaiah Silva [2](m. 2014;div. 2017) |
| Parent(s) | |
| Relatives |
|
Early life
Frances Cobain was born on August 18, 1992, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.[4] She was named after Frances McKee, the guitarist for the Scottish indie pop duo The Vaselines.[5][6][7]
Before Cobain's birth, there were rumors suggesting that her mother used heroin during the pregnancy. This scandal intensified when Vanity Fair published Lynn Hirschberg's article "Strange Love", which alleged that Love admitted to using heroin even after learning of her pregnancy. Love and Kurt Cobain maintained that Vanity Fair took her words out of context.[8] Eventually, child welfare services launched an investigation into their parenting abilities.[9] The investigation was eventually dismissed, but not without a significant amount of legal wrangling and Frances being removed from her parents' custody for a short time, beginning when she was two weeks old.[9] After a lengthy legal battle, her parents were able to regain custody of their daughter. They employed several nannies over the next two years to help them care for her.
On April 1, 1994, Frances visited her father at the Exodus Recovery Center, a rehab center in Marina Del Rey, California, where they played together. This was the last time she saw her father alive.[10] On the morning of April 8, 1994, Kurt Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle.[11] A final ceremony was arranged for him by his mother on May 31, 1999, attended by both Love and Tracy Marander.[12] Frances was subsequently raised by her mother, aunts, and paternal grandmother.[13] She spent her early years in Seattle and Los Angeles, and was placed in her grandmother's care for a time after her mother's drug-related arrest in October 2003. Hours after the arrest, Love overdosed on painkillers. Love regained custody of Frances in 2005.[14]
During her young adulthood, Frances Cobain attended Bard College, where she studied art.[15]
Former R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe and actress Drew Barrymore are her godfather and godmother.[16]
Career
Modeling
In August 2006, she was photographed for Elle magazine in her father's famous brown cardigan and pajama pants as part of an article featuring children of rock stars in their parents' clothing. She explained, "I wore his pajamas because he got married in them to my mom in 1992 in Hawaii so I thought they would be cute if I wore them today. He was too lazy to put on a tux so he got married in pajamas!" In February 2008, she appeared in a photo spread for Harper's Bazaar dressed as Evita.[17] Cobain modeled for Hedi Slimane for a web photo series released August 2, 2011. In 2017, she was announced as the face of Marc Jacobs's Spring/Summer 2017 campaign, shot by David Sims.[18][19][20]
Artwork
In July 2010, Cobain debuted a collection of artwork titled Scumfuck under the pseudonym "Fiddle Tim" at the La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles.[21][22][23] On August 4, 2012, she participated in the group show 'MiXTAPE' under her real name. Artists were asked to pick a song and create art inspired by that song. Cobain chose the song "Black" by The Jesus and Mary Chain. The eclectic mix of songs chosen were featured for digital download on iTunes.[24][25][26] Opening on June 7, 2017 through June 30, Cobain and artist Lindsey Way held a joint art exhibition titled "Ghosts For Sale" at Gallery 30 South in Pasadena.[27]
Other ventures
According to Rolling Stone magazine, the title and cover photograph for the 2005 Nirvana rarities album Sliver: The Best of the Box were chosen by 13-year old Cobain.[28] Cobain worked as an intern for Rolling Stone magazine from June to August 2008.[29] In 2009, it was reported that Cobain had turned down the role of Alice in Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland.[30]
Cobain appeared as a guest vocalist on the song "My Space" from the album Evelyn Evelyn by Evelyn Evelyn, which was released on March 30, 2010.[31] Amanda Palmer from Evelyn clarified that Cobain was one of some 20 artists who sang the same line and whose voices were mixed together in the recording.[32] Cobain was also an executive producer on the HBO movie about her father's life, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck.[33]
Personal life
In September 2005, 13-year-old Cobain gave her first interview, to Teen Vogue, in which she discussed her personal style and mentioned her parents.[34] Another appeared in the January 2006 issue of i-D, in which she lamented tabloid portrayals of her mother: "When you see a lot of lies about her in the tabloids ... it can be hurtful."[35] She also gave an interview in 2010 about her art as "Fiddle Tim".
In September 2008, Cobain hosted a "RIP Childhood" 16th birthday celebration at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. It was called a suicide-themed party in several reports, but that has been disputed. The event was funded by her mother and included a performance by Mindless Self Indulgence.[36]
On December 11, 2009, a California Superior Court in Los Angeles appointed Wendy O'Connor, her paternal grandmother, and Kimberly Cobain, her father's sister, as Cobain's temporary co-guardians.[37] On December 16, 2009, a judge had issued a related temporary restraining order prohibiting Love from having any direct or indirect contact with her daughter.[38] The papers were filed under the heading "motion to seal all documents... relating to a minor and allegations of domestic violence". Among those documents are Frances Cobain's medical records, according to the filing.[39]