Rolling Stone: Neither you nor your former band mate Dave Grohl has talked publicly about Kurt Cobain since his suicide. Why?
[...]
Krist: It’s not proper to say anything. The emotional stake that Dave and I have in it is a lot more invested than the person who got to know Kurt through his music. There are things that are private and nobody should know. You can’t go through life tragedy-free. Your parents die, and one day you or your spouse is gonna die. Life is heavy, and it still hurts a lot.
-8 February 1996
"The whole thing seemed sort of surreal, and it raced by in a heartbeat and it seemed like a dream. It’s not unlike these recurring dreams that I’ve had for the past 24 years, y’know.
I still dream that Nirvana is still a band, and Kurt just appears – like he’s been in hiding (laughs). We look at him and go, ‘What the fuck?! Where have you been?’
And we’ve got a gig in an hour, and I get this feeling, like, ‘Oh my gosh, I get to play these songs again.’ I have that dream at least once or twice a year and have done for the past 24 years. Getting up to play those songs is like living in that dream."
-Dave, on the 2018 Cal Jam Nirvana reunion, Kerrang Magazine 3 Jan 2020
“I have dreams all the time. I have dreams about once a month. [...] Well, they’re usually all the same, but in all of them it’s prior to his [Kurt's] death. He shows up in my dreams, and I’m like holy shit! You’re not dead, and it’s like it was some big secret or some big joke and then you can’t wait to tell everyone. Then you wake up. Within them there’s the same conversations that always happen. In those dreams, he’s never dead; he’s always alive, so I think it’s kind of cool.
I think there’s a whole lot more to the spirit than people can even comprehend. I think there’s more … it’s even too much bravado and egotistical for human beings to think that we’re the end, or that their minds are capable of understanding the universe. It’s not possible. Fuck you for telling me life can’t exist outside planet Earth. How do you know? There’s romance and mystery or the thrill of the chase, whatever. I’m not willing to make up my mind yet.”
-Dave Grohl, Flaunt Magazine, Nov 2002
"I remember one time during their [Nirvana's] 1992 Australian tour and we were in the tour bus. Everyone was drinking wine and Dave Grohl took out a notebook. Dave Grohl had a diary or journal of some sort, whatever it was, and during that tour he wrote in it everyday. He might have written in it afterward, too, but I wouldn't know.
Dave started writing and Krist Novoselic asked him what he was doing. Dave ignored him and Kurt Cobain became curious, too. Kurt grabbed the journal and picked a random page from it and read it out loud. This journal entry described Kurt Cobain in somewhat interesting detail.
Dave called Kurt Cobain his best friend and said getting that call from Kurt and Krist was the best day of his life. The journal entry also said Kurt Cobain saved his life because he felt very confused, or lost, while in Scream and contemplated life-threatening situations, if you know what I mean.
Kurt Cobain gave the book back to Dave Grohl, took another sip of wine, and hugged him. He told Dave Grohl that he is his best friend and asked him to never leave the band no matter what, because he couldn't do this [the band] without him. Krist shook his head in agreement. Dave Grohl said he would die before that happened and they smiled. Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain, and Dave Grohl had a group hug.
I laughed hysterically at them with warmth in my heart. The next day Kurt Cobain said it was just the wine talking, but I know he meant what he said. You can't fake a moment like that."
-Youri Lenquette, 1995
Archivist's note: I'm gonna fucking cry
Interviewer: Your house containing everything you own catches fire. After saving loved ones and pets, you have time to save one item. What would it be?
Dave: "Probably this letter I got from Kurt in 1992. That sounds terribly melodramatic, but it's true. I lose everything: passports, wallets, car keys, credit cards, but that letter is absolutely irreplaceable. He wrote it to me when everything was going nuts. We were all living in different places- he was in Los Angeles, I was in Virginia and Krist was in Seattle- and some decisions were being made without me. I got really bummed out and Kurt sent me this letter about my role and stature in the band. It was all, 'I love you like a brother.' It was just before we did 'In Utero' and it said, 'I can't wait to get back in the studio and make a record so we can whittle ourselves back down to a comfortable level,' Which of course never really happened."
Melody Maker (sometime between 1997-2000)
"I can't think of one show that I ever played with that band where we walked offstage and said, 'That was great.' Never one. Only two times did I get any reassurance from Kurt. Once when I joined the band, in 1990, we were drunk at some disco in England, and Kurt came up and said, 'I'm so glad you're in this band. I'm so glad you're down-to-earth.' I was like, 'Wow!' The next time was in late '93 or early '94 when I came home and turned on my message machine and had a message from Kurt that said, 'Y'know, I was just sitting here listening to 'In Utero', and your drumming is so awesome. You did such a great job!' I was like, 'Wow!' Those two things were spread out by about four years [laughs]."
-Dave, Rolling Stone 2005
"Kurt heard that, and kissed me on the face, as he was in a bath. He was so excited. He was like, 'I heard you recorded some stuff with Barrett [Jones].' I was like, 'Yeah.' He was like, 'Let me hear it.' I was too afraid to be in the same room as he listened to it."
-Dave, on showing Kurt his demo tapes, including Alone + Easy Target (Nov. 2014, Sonic Highways, HBO)