Nirvana Employee Reveals How Kurt Cobain Smelled, Was He Stinky?

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Craig Montgomery, Nirvana’s live sound engineer from 1989-1993, discussed Kurt Cobain’s hygiene and more in a recent AMA on the Nirvana Reddit.

Hey Craig thanks for the AMA!! I just wanted to ask you since you knew Kurt personally was he a hygenic guy? The media portrays him as someone who wouldn’t shower or wash his clothes. Did he shower, wash his hair more frequently than we are led to believe?? I’ve heard from people who’ve met him that he was a clean guy.

He was no stinkier than anyone else and didn’t have a problem with bathing.

But you shouldn’t wash your hair with shampoo too much, it strips away the natural oils! 🙂

I’m always pretty amazed at how Kurt could be so functional while he was struggling with drug issues. Did he just hide this well or was he always clean during shows?

There were times when he wasn’t functioning that well. I never saw anyone do drugs in person, I stayed away from that. What I do know is that no matter how bad things got, Kurt was serious about his art and music. Somehow he almost always managed to pull it off, even when he had no business being up there on stage.

Hey dude, Monty Lee Wilkes was a colleague of mine here in Minneapolis, and he mixed Nirvana’s next tour after you left. Did you know him, and if so, any cool stories?

It wasn’t after I left, it was the start of the US Nevermind tour that I had to miss. After that, we toured together with him staying on as tour manager.

Here’s my Monty Lee Wilkes story: In 1991 when Nevermind came out, Nirvana was booked for a US club tour and Monty was hired as tour manager. I was Nirvana’s soundguy, but I was in the studio with the Posies when the tour started, so Monty filled on sound. Those legendary shows in the Northeast were actually mixed by him. Management was calling, asking when I could come out, and I was finally able to join the tour in Chicago at the Cabaret Metro, with Monty staying on as TM. This could have been an awkward situation, but Monty was never anything but kind, welcoming, and stoked to be there. We became fast friends. I knew him from Redd Kross, but he never told me he had been the Replacements’ guy!

I would have been bowing down. He was the first person I knew to take a computer on tour. He had an early Macintosh and a printer that he rolled into hotel rooms in a big roadcase to set up a mobile office. He’d stay up all night, fueled by caffeine and cigarettes, screwing around trying to get it to work and printing out information. I’ll never forget his catchphrase when he saw something he liked: “I’m a fan!” His kindness and professionalism even in some very trying circumstances were examples to me, and it’s easy to see why he is loved and missed by so many.