Suicide

The Associated Press

MARILYN MONROE: The media portrayed Marilyn Monroe’s suicide in a way that was representative of Monroe’s entire life — glamorous, glorified and sensational. Her death made both national and international headlines, with stories initially reporting her death, later analyzing her tragic end and eventually glorifying her life. Click here for more.

Photo: Kurt Cobain performs with his group, Nirvana, on “MTV Unplugged” in 1993. Credit: Frank Micelotta / Getty Images

KURT COBAIN: Grunge and Kurt Cobain’s band, Nirvana, have become synonymous over time. The music genre that sprung out of Seattle gave a voice to the outcast youth across the nation. Although other grunge bands from the same city, such as Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, were extremely popular, there was no doubt that Cobain was the face and spokesman of the genre. This unwanted publicity led Cobain to commit suicide, and the youth that had come to connect with the dark soul of Cobain felt a personal loss.

Cobain was not known to smile very often. On stage, he looked angry as he thrashed about on his Fender Mustang guitar and sang about dark subject matters. But to his fans, he was a messiah. Fan Shawn Euzibo said about Cobain, “This is the first band I ever had somebody die on me. He was a spokesperson for our generation–he represented what we all feel in our lives, but he lived it.” Click here for more.