Frances Cobain was born on August 18, 1992, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. She was named after Frances McKee, the guitarist for the Scottish indie pop duoThe Vaselines. 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. Eventually, child welfare services launched an investigation into their parenting abilities. The investigation was ultimately 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. 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. On the morning of April 8, 1994, Kurt Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle. A final ceremony was arranged for him by his mother on May 31, 1999, attended by both Love and Tracy Marander. Frances was subsequently raised by her mother, aunts, and paternal grandmother. 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. During her young adulthood, Frances Cobain attended Bard College, where she studied art. Former R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe and actress Drew Barrymore are her godparents.
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. Cobain modeled for Hedi Slimane for a web photo series released August 2, 2011. In 2016, she modeled alongside Alice Glass in a spread for Schön! magazine shot by Floria Sigismondi. In 2017, she was announced as the face of Marc Jacobs's Spring/Summer 2017 campaign, shot by David Sims.
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. 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. 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.
Other ventures
According to Rolling Stone magazine, the title and cover photograph for the 2005 Nirvana rarities album ' were chosen by 13-year old Cobain. Cobain worked as an intern for Rolling Stone magazine from June to August 2008. She was featured in the magazine years later, photographed by David LaChapelle. In 2009, it was reported that Cobain had turned down the role of Alice in Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland. 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. 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. Cobain was also an executive producer on the HBO movie about her father's life, '. In 2019, she appeared as a special guest judge in one episode of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' season 4.
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. 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. 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. 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. On August 18, 2010, Cobain inherited 37% of her late father's estate. Cobain, not Love, now controls the publicity rights to her father's name and image. Cobain has said she is not a fan of grunge bands, instead preferring other music like Oasis, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Nina Simone, but she has said she likes the songs "Territorial Pissings" and "Dumb". Cobain and musician Isaiah Silva married on June 29, 2014, though the wedding date was widely misreported as around September 2015. By March 23, 2016, Cobain had filed for divorce. By November 30, 2017, the couple had divorced.
