Author Archive

As the twentieth anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death came about this past weekend, it felt odd that we had a panel discussion on him at EMP on Sunday, April 6. I felt more emotional on April 5th than I thought I would, and for someone who usually is not without words, I wasn’t sure

In the Stranger online today is my take on who in Nirvana should inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2014/04/02/charles-cross-talks-his-new-cobain-book-courtney-love-and-chad-channing.   And just in case you don’t click on that link, it’s my belief that every band member of a nominated band should at the least have their name on the

At my recent Aberdeen Library appearance for “Here We Are Now,” journalist Steven Friederich came forth with a  document that perhaps sheds light on where the title for Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” actually came from. Friederich discovered an old ad for the Morck Hotel in Aberdeen in an 1940’s city directory and recipe

On 3/20/14, I held the first reading for “Here We Are Now” in Aberdeen. At the start of the reading, I asked everyone in attendance who knew Kurt Cobain to stand up, and half the crowd stood. It’s always emotional to do an event in Kurt’s hometown, and in the actual library he spent

3/18/14: Today is the publication date of “Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain” by Charles R. Cross. The piece is featured today in stories in USA Today (http://goo.gl/Mehomt), the New York Daily News (http://goo.gl/DhKVsI), and several other publications. From the review on Alternativenation: “Tasteful and balanced…. takes aim at the

For both “Heavier Than Heaven” and “Here We Are Now” I’ve held the first readings in a town that doesn’t even have a bookstore, but has more connection to Kurt Cobain and Nirvana than any other. Here’s a feature in the Aberdeen Daily World on the new book, and some of the troubled past

3/12/14: “Here We Are Now” is serialized in the latest Seattle Weekly. The new issue is out with a Kurt Cobain cover. You can read the excerpt here: http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/951542-129/happens-every-day-the-suicide-of  

There’s an except from “Heavier Than Heaven” on “the Daily Beast” today.  http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/04/the-moment-kurt-cobain-met-courtney-love.html. Over at Foursquare, I drew up a list of Kurt Cobain-related locations that still can visited. It makes an idea guide for out-of-town visitors to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. https://foursquare.com/itbooks/list/here-we-are-now

A new edition of “Heavier Than Heaven” comes out from Hyperion Books today with a redesigned cover and an updated preface. Since the book initially was published in September 2001, it has been translated into two dozen languages. Some of the odd facts about the book’s history include: A guy was reading it at

I have a new book titled “Here We Are Now” which is out officially on March 18, 2014 from It Books/Harper Collins. The book is an attempt to chronicle, and measure, the cultural impact of Nirvana‘s Kurt Cobain twenty years after his death. The book explores the scope of Cobain’s lasting influence in music,