On March 1 1994, Nirvana played what turned out to be their final concert at Terminal Einz in Munich, Germany.
With the same mix of punk snark, self-effacing sarcasm and genuine reverence for their classic rock influences that permeated so much of their catalog, the band decided to open the show with a light-hearted cover of The Cars' 1978 smash hit, My Best Friend's Girl. You can watch professionally-shot footage of the cover above.
Tongue-in-cheek as their version of it was, My Best Friend's Girl ended up being a poignant choice for the band's final show. Ubiquitous on the radio in Cobain's youth, it was – along with AC/DC’s Back in Black and Louie Louie – one of the first songs he ever learned (opens in new tab) on guitar.
Throughout their ever-so-short career, Nirvana frequently dipped into the '70s rock oeuvre, with varying degrees of seriousness. One of the highlights of their legendary MTV Unplugged set the previous year had been their beautiful take (opens in new tab) on David Bowie's The Man Who Sold the World. That same evening though, the band also jokingly desecrated (opens in new tab) Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1974 Southern anthem, Sweet Home Alabama.
Likewise, at a February 1994 show in Rennes, France, Nirvana launched into a shambolic version (opens in new tab) of the Knack's 1979 power-pop smash, My Sharona, before playing (opens in new tab) Drain You.
Even at one of the group's most famous shows, their headlining performance at the 1992 Reading Festival, Cobain made light of messing up the opening riff to Smells Like Teen Spirit by leading Nirvana into an impromptu version of Boston's More Than a Feeling.
Though Nirvana had over a month of European dates scheduled after March 1, 1994, Cobain was struggling with personal and physical issues, and the remaining dates were subsequently cancelled (opens in new tab).
Days later, on March 4, Cobain was hospitalized (opens in new tab) in Rome after he suffered an adverse reaction to a mix of prescription drugs and alcohol.
Though he fully recovered from the hospitalization, on April 8, Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 27 years old.
