- published: 23 Nov 2014
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Mark Seliger (born 1959) is an American photographer noted for his portraiture.
Seliger was born in Amarillo, Texas, the son of Maurice and Carol Lee. The family moved to Houston in 1964. He attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, and East Texas State University. He moved to New York City in 1984. He began working for Rolling Stone in 1987, and served as its chief photographer from 1992 to 2002 and shot more than 100 covers for the magazine. As of 2010, Seliger lives in New York City, and works for Conde Nast Publications. He has shot a number of covers for GQ and Vanity Fair.
Seliger has also published several books; created a number of CD covers for Burning Spear, Diana Krall and other bands;[citation needed] and directed short films.[citation needed] The celebrities whose portraits Seliger has made include[citation needed]Susan Sarandon, David Byrne, Matthew Barney, Willie Nelson, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Kurt Cobain, Rob Thomas and Tony Bennett.
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana. Cobain formed Nirvana with Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1985 and established it as part of the Seattle music scene, having its debut album Bleach released on the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989.
After signing with major label DGC Records, the band found breakthrough success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from its second album Nevermind (1991). Following the success of Nevermind, Nirvana was labeled "the flagship band" of Generation X, and Cobain hailed as "the spokesman of a generation". Cobain, however, was often uncomfortable and frustrated, believing his message and artistic vision to have been misinterpreted by the public, with his personal issues often subject to media attention. He challenged Nirvana's audience with its final studio album In Utero (1993).
During the last years of his life, Cobain struggled with heroin addiction, illness and depression. He also had difficulty coping with his fame and public image, and the professional and lifelong personal pressures surrounding himself and his wife, musician Courtney Love. On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle, the victim of what was officially ruled a suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. The circumstances of his death at age 27 have become a topic of public fascination and debate. Since their debut, Nirvana, with Cobain as a songwriter, has sold over 25 million albums in the U.S. alone, and over 50 million worldwide.
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