So you know how Activision made Kurt Cobain a playable character in their forthcoming Guitar Hero 5? Like many, our initial reaction was one of shock but the fact that gamers can puppet-master Cobain into singing Bon Jovi ballads has since changed the move from mildly offensive to sacrilegious. As a result the “who signed this shit off?” finger pointing between Cobain’s widow Courtney Love and Nirvana band mates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl has gotten particularly ugly.
Let’s start at the beginning shall we.
Following the release of the Guitar Hero promotional videos Love took to the latest and greatest vehicle for celebrity venting and narcissism, Twitter, to express her disgust and subtly implicate Dave Grohl. Here’s what she had to say:
FOR THE RECORD I DID NOT APPROVE KURTS AVATAR FOR GUYITARHERO5. i think Kurt would despise this game alone let alone this avatar
WE are going to sue the shit out of ACtivision we being the Trust the Estate the LLC the various LLCs Cobain Enterprises
For the record, this Guitar Hero shit is breach of contract on a bully’s part and there will be a proper addressing of this and retraction.
you can assrape dave he was always a bad seed and is stillriding the shit while i take bullets if theres a hell hes going. im not.
Speaking with The Guardian Activision vice president Tim Riley responded with a much calmer and we’ll assume more honest statement: “Courtney supplied us with photos and videos…She picked the wardrobe and hairstyle, which turned out to be the ‘Teen Spirit’ look, then we went back and forth over changes – some subtle, some not so subtle … [She wanted a] sort of athletic definition but not overly so.” The company also released an official statement which reads: “Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero® 5.”
Finally Cobain’s ex-bandmates chipped in with a statement of their own:
“We want people to know that we are dismayed and very disappointed in the way a facsimile of Kurt is used in the Guitar Hero game. The name and likeness of Kurt Cobain are the sole property of his estate — we have no control whatsoever in that area.
While we were aware of Kurt’s image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn’t know players have the ability to unlock the character. This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in “re-locking” Kurt’s character so that this won’t continue in the future.
It’s hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists’ music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better.”
Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl
So who’s to blame? We’re not 100% sure but unless Activision is lying Love did give them permission to use Cobain’s likeness in the game. This leaves us with two options either A) Courtney Love is a liar or B) She forgot that she signed the contract. Therein lies the real conundrum.
