Cobain Continues: A Kurt Cobain Survives Collaborative Timeline

June 1997-The Escape/Frontiers lineup of Journey embarks on a massive arena and amphitheater tour to promote their latest album Trial by Fire. The album hits #1 on the Billboard charts for two weeks during the tour. Frontman Steve Perry is praised for his "rich and soulful maturity in his voice, and his prime physical shape." The tour is one of the top 10 most profitable that year, behind stalwarts such as the Rolling Stones' Bridges To Babylon Tour, the 1997 dates of the Kiss Alive/Worldwide Tour, Aerosmith's Nine Lives Tour, Guns N' Roses' tour to promote their newest album Chinese Democracy, and the reunited classic lineup of Van Halen.

March 1998-Troy Duffy, an aspiring filmmaker and musician who briefly caused a stir with a massive deal from Miramax Pictures, dies of an automobile accident in Los Angeles during the strong El Nino battering California. His funeral is attended only by his family and friends.

March 11, 1998-Aerosmith performs an historic concert in Anchorage, Alaska during their Nine Lives Tour. After the show, frontman Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry host a massive celebratory party. Tyler, who is acquainted with Cobain, shoots him an email and a fax about the experience. The next day, they leave to shoot a video for their new single, "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing," for the Michael Bay film Armageddon. The song becomes massively successful, and the film makes money hand over fist, despite hostile critical reception. (IOTL, this is where Tyler tore his ACL, which was beginning of his battle with painkillers)

March 1998-Bob Dylan wins three Grammy Awards related to his latest album, Time Out of Mind.

June 1998-The other members of the Grateful Dead form a collaboration called the Other Ones, and embark on a tour. Dead frontman Jerry Garcia, who retired the band to focus on regaining his health, appears at several shows, showing his dramatically improved appearance, having lost considerable weight, turned to an organic-only diet, and kicking his addiction to heroin. Rumors of a Dead reunion flare up, but nothing more happens, especially after bassist Phil Lesh ends up sidelined with hepatitis C.

June 1998-Marilyn Manson releases his third album, Mechanical Animals, which becomes a massive success. Cobain strikes up a friendship with the massively controversial shock rocker, and recognizes him as "the next David Bowie." Cobain is invited to support Manson's Rock Is Dead Tour, but Cobain politely turns it down, though promises to consider a tour in the future.
 
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February 1999-Cobain receives a call from Vice President Al Gore. Gore is unofficially known to be running for the presidency in 2000, and is fielding questions on whether he'll be able to count on Cobain's support for his campaign. Cobain jokes that "the political stuff is really best left to Krist, as he's always been that type of person more than me." Cobain does state, however, that Gore should count on great opposition from both parties, and tells him to "take no prisoners when you do it. Sell what you're going to continue." Gore thanks Cobain for the advice and states that he will keep it in mind.

May 1999-Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace appears in theaters. It is the first movie in the series in 22 years, the first to be directed by George Lucas since the very first, and is written by Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. The film receives a largely positive reception, though certain fans take offense at the film's plot and characters. Cobain is asked about the film. "I thought it was wonderful. I personally don't get some of these people complaining about it. I didn't get it two years ago when they attacked the Special Editions with such anger. I understand not liking change, but not to this extent."
 
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April 2000-The Grateful Dead surprise the world with a previously unannounced new album, entitled So Many Roads, after one of the songs. The album consists of an update of the song "U.S. Blues", and all the other songs were gathered together in an attempt to release an album five years previously for their 30th anniversary, but due to Jerry Garcia's then poor health, this did not come to be. Garcia states that "we would've gotten this out sooner, but Phil [Lesh] had hep C, so we had to wait. We just wanted to mark our 35th anniversary, and do one last tour together, at least for the time being." The album is a modest commercial success, nowhere near the heights of 1987's In the Dark, but critics rave. The Dead will dedicate their Y2K Tour to the purpose of electing Al Gore to the Presidency, and also snipe a bit at celebrity supporters of Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, calling them "useful idiots." Garcia exchanges a brief feud with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello over the matter, especially when Garcia emphatically attacks the band's plan for a protest concert at the Democratic National Convention.

May 2000-As Pickled Intuition nears completion, Cobain begins talking with various artists of different genres in doing a barnstorming tour to promote Gore's campaign, which as of this date has gone quite smoothly since knifing a manufactroversy where Gore was falsely labeled as claiming to have invented the Internet, using full advantage of President Clinton's experience and star power (which he also uses for his wife Hillary's run for the Senate from New York), and having open press access similar to Governor Bush's campaign. Cobain also wants to do an outreach to sway Nader supporters into realizing that the stakes are far higher than they anticipated. This involves communication with former rival Eddie Vedder, the frontman of Pearl Jam. Vedder is a staunch Nader supporter, but Cobain urges him to put his support behind Gore, stating that "all you'll do is divide the environmental vote, which is needed to keep the Republicans out of the White House." Vedder eventually agrees, which leads to a massive falling out with Nader supporters such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon. Pearl Jam officially joins the so-called Millennium Of Miracles Tour, alongside Cobain/Nirvana, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley, the Allman Brothers Band, Bruce Springsteen, the Smashing Pumpkins, Marilyn Manson (promoting his new album Holy Wood), Korn, Stone Temple Pilots (who are resurgent with their hit single "Sour Girl"), Jay-Z, Eminem, the Backstreet Boys and Faith Hill. The tour's only sour note is when Pearl Jam briefly considers pulling out after nine people are trampled to death during their previously planned solo performance at the Roskilde Festival.
 
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May 8th, 2000: The resurrected Grateful Dead joins the Millenium of Miracles tour, with frontman Jerry Garcia remarking: "I know that I was giving this all a break a few years ago, but the cause is a cause I've supported in the past and that's enough of a reason for me to get back into the rock game!" In regards to why the Grateful Dead dropped out of the Y2K tour in favor of the Millenium of Miracles tour, Garcia emphasizes that: "By collaborating with artists of both yesterday and today, we can connect to multiple generations and unite them all in the cause against Governor Bush and his nefarious intentions if elected President!"

May 10th, 2000: Tabitha's Secret, as well as U2 and former Beatles Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr join the Millenium of Miracles tour. Grohl's band-members from the Foo Fighters also join in and it is planned that Grohl will spend half his time with the revived Nirvana line-up and the other half on stage with his Foo Fighters band-members.

May 11th, 2000: Alice in Chains joins the Millenium of Miracles tour.

May 12th, 2000: The tour dates and locations for the Millenium of Miracles are announced. The concert is to begin in Cobain's hometown of Seattle, Washington and progressively work its way around the country until eventually reaching Washington, D.C, where a celebratory grand finale celebration is planned in which Vice President Al Gore will join the bands on stage.
 
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(I have an idea for the timeline, if you guys are interested. Maybe the Millenium of Miracles tour will be centered around campaigning for Gore, while a group of conservative musicians form their own tour supporting Bush and a very epic Battle of the Bands arises throughout 2000? They could both begin on opposite ends of the country and eventually reach D.C at the same time and compete in an intense contest while together.)
 

oberdada

Gone Fishin'
September 2004: Cobain meets up with Van Dyke Parks, Paul McCartney, George Martin and Melinda Wilson to discuss a new project: Finish Smile.

Eventually the project fails due to Brother Records refusing to release the tapes.

Comment by Cobain: "Should have known it; the trouble I have with Loves..."
 
June 2000-The reunited Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is asked to join the Millennium Of Miracles Tour, but choose instead to stay focused on their CSNY2K Tour, but plan to donate the proceeds to the Gore campaign as well. Meanwhile, Karl Rove, Roger Stone and Governor Bush's VP pick Dick Cheney are foaming at the mouth at Cobain's tour and try to gather together their own counter tour of conservative artists and the support of conservative Hollywood icons. The tour, entitled the Time For Change Tour, secures Ted Nugent, Kid Rock, Sammy Hagar and his solo band The Waboritas, the current post-plane crash lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and speeches by Charlton Heston, Chuck Norris, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and so on. Rove attempts to secure Kiss, currently on their ostensible "farewell tour", to join in by appealing to the right-wing sensibilities of Gene Simmons. However, the idea is vetoed by Paul Stanley and the band's manager Doc McGhee, especially in light of unpublicized internal strife caused by Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. In the meantime, the Nader crowd grows ever more belligerent and vicious towards Cobain and the Gore supporting tour. The already-falling apart Rage Against the Machine adds gasoline to the fire when various Nader supporters start riots and Tom Morello and Zack de la Rocha give separate statements refusing to condemn the violence.

July 2000-The Millennium of Miracles artists videotape a statement which is used at the Democratic National Convention. Along with speeches by President and Mrs. Clinton, as well as Vice President Gore's acceptance speech, many pundits refer to it as "the most energized convention one has ever seen." (ITTL, the Al-Tipper kiss still occurs, but it is far less awkward, and occurs organically rather than be used a transparent prop to distance themselves from the Clintons, which has not happened)

July 21, 2000-Cobain sits for an interview with Wired magazine, discussing the recent changes in the music and film industries. He is quite bemused and hopeful. "Everything's changing at an incredible pace. Right now, Blockbuster is offering a mail service through the Internet to rent movies for extended periods of time and without official late fees, both videotapes and DVDs. They're investing in video on demand, which will change so much. Music is now going digital, and it's a good thing the labels are embracing it so wholeheartedly. It wouldn't do any good to insist only on CDs as the only way to buy music. Not to mention, people still have a love of vinyl. And of course, it's also good that things like The Real World crashed and burned. I can't imagine an MTV with no music."

August 2000-Frances Bean Cobain's 8th birthday is celebrated onstage during the Millennium Of Miracles performance at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. The precocious youngster joins in during Nirvana's set to do some additional guitar that she's learned from her father, and backing vocals. She also jams a bit with the Foo Fighters on Dave Grohl's guitar and drum set, and is carried on the shoulders of drummer Taylor Hawkins. Many call it the sweetest moment of the tour yet.

September 7, 2000-At the Madison Square Garden show, Bob Dylan ends up joining the tour for one night. Dylan breaks with the tradition built up on his so-called Never Ending Tour, and gives a largely hit-studded setlist, though drastically rearranged as usual. Dylan also indulges the whims of Cobain's son Patrick, who asks that Dylan perform the version of "This Old Man" he recorded for the Disney charity album For Our Children. President and Mrs. Clinton appear on stage to give speeches to further support the Gore and Senate campaigns.

September 29, 2000-The final show of the Millennium Of Miracles Tour occurs at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., and is simulcast worldwide on MTV as part of their Rock The Vote/Choose To Lose campaign, the BBC, and various radio networks. The encore starts with Vice President Gore's speech, in which he refers to "this is the culmination of 8 years of peace and prosperity. And we stand on the brink of losing everything that we worked so hard to achieve. This shows what people can achieve when they put their mind to it. If more and more young people put their minds together and got involved in politics, there's no end to what we'd accomplish." The finale consists of all the artists doing a massive finale jam, most notably renditions of "Lithium", "Everlong", "The Pretender", "Midnight Rider", "Up On The Roof" and "Dark Star." By the time of this final show, Pickled Intuition has been released, received universal praise from the critics, spent two weeks at Billboard's #1, and sold 5 million copies. Most attention is focused on the liner notes, in which Cobain dedicates the album to Billie Joe Armstrong, stating that "I feel his presence around me very often. I think his spirit, as such, was what pushed me to make this album and enter the political sphere. Green Day, had it been able to continue, surely would've gone in a direction like this. There was so much more to them than odes to spacing out on the couch while stoned."

October 3, 2000-The first presidential debate occurs at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Vice President Gore is almost unanimously declared the winner. While not quite as stirring and impassioned as his campaign speeches, Gore gives many notable statements, particularly on the matters of healthcare reform, rebutting Governor Bush's economic points, and the recent election in Serbia to remove Slobodan Milosevic out of power, dismissing a desire to have newly-installed Russian President Vladimir Putin mediate the conflict. "The governor's instincts aren't bad, and we should work on a new period of cooperation and peace. But we know nothing much about this man Putin, who he is, what he stands for, or what vision he has for Russia." Gore makes sure to stress when he agrees with Governor Bush, and commends him for his handling of wildfires and floods that plagued Texas over the summer. Governor Bush is faulted by press for his shaky handle of the money for his policies, repeating the phrases "phony numbers" and "fuzzy math" over and over without explaining them, and for his increasing usage of sarcasm during the debate. There are reports of a screaming match between Karl Rove and various other Bush campaign advisors afterwards.

October 5, 2000-The vice presidential debate occurs at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Dick Cheney faces off against Vice President Gore's nominee, Senator Bob Graham of Florida. The choice is partially because of Cobain, but also because of President Clinton's advice. Originally, Gore had wanted to tap Senator Joseph Lieberman, who had been one of the first to speak out against the Monica Lewinsky affair and Clinton's deception. Clinton stated that it would signal a distancing that couldn't be afforded, while Cobain urged Gore not to use him to give credence to the Gores' infamous urging of the censorship of media through the PMRC and attacks on violent video games. Cobain stated that it could potentially sway too many people back to the Nader crowd if they thought their favorite media forms were going to be suppressed. Graham was chosen for his sterling record in the Senate, as well as his appeal to Florida voters. The debate is essentially a draw, and many refer to it as a "snoozefest."

October 11, 2000-The second presidential debate is held at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The debate focuses on foreign policy and hate crimes. Governor Bush asserts that he will be more measured in diplomacy than his opponent, and states of Vladimir Putin that "I looked into his soul, and I saw a man that I can trust." Gore hammers back, stressing again that not much is known of Putin other than his past as a KGB colonel, and that Boris Yeltsin, for all his faults, was essentially driven out in a coup. "For all we know, Mr. Putin could want nothing more than to rebuild the Soviet Union. We must be guarded in dealing with him." Gore finds his strength in castigating Bush for handling the murder of James E. Byrd, Jr., and not allowing the killers to be charged with hate crimes, and also stresses the aftermath of the murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. Gore scores another win.

October 17, 2000-The final debate is at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in a town hall format. Vice President Gore somewhat falters a bit because he is not fully used to the town hall format, but is found to be in better command of his facts and have a far more appealing attitude as he answers questions. Governor Bush resorts to cheap shots to trip up his opponent by snorting derisively during Gore's responses, and vamping for the cameras. Gore, for his part, moves to stand right next to Bush to hover over him, which Bush hardly acknowledges. Bush attempts to right himself in his closing statement by resorting to his folksy humor persona by saying "if you want to vote for change, vote for me. If you don't, only vote once."

October 18, 2000-A public press release is made by Cobain's ex-wife Courtney Love, filled with bitter jealousy. In it, Mary Lou Lord is accused of emotionally abusing Frances and Patrick, and states that she is attempting to poison Cobain. The media mocks Love's wild allegations.
 
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(Don't forget the release of Pickled Intuition in September, as well as perhaps Courtney Love and Hole's reactions to the MoM's tour and Cobain's involvement in it. Also, should the Smashing Pumpkins be involved in the MoM?)
 
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(Don't forget the release of Pickled Intuition in September, as well as perhaps Courtney Love and Hole's reactions to the MoM's tour and Cobain's involvement in it. Also, should the Smashing Pumpkins be involved in the MoM?)

Yes, I'll edit that part in. Also, I'm thinking of having some kind of attempt at an October surprise by smearing Kurt from the likes of Christopher Hitchens.
 
October 21, 2000-Christopher Hitchens, bitter about Cobain's reaction to him during the Lewinsky scandal, and continuing to nurse his hatred of the Clintons and all associated with them, publishes a series of inflammatory articles about the Millennium Of Miracles Tour within hours of each other. He attacks Vice President Gore as a "stuck corporate neoliberal pig who kisses Clinton's backside every chance he gets," and lobs President Clinton as "the rapist in chief." Hitchens also hurls vindictive attacks at each of the individual artists and groups who participated in the tour. Don Henley receives a particular drubbing, thanks to co-opting Eagles co-guitarist Don Felder, who accuses Henley and Glenn Frey of destroying the band and stealing money from the others, as well as songwriting credits for songs such as "Victim of Love." But Hitchens saves most of his vitriol for Cobain, calling him "the douchebag , poseur social justice warrior who doesn't understand what it actually means." He also states that "it is appalling to see a proclaimed feminist support someone associated with a President who has raped and pillaged innocent victims like Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broaddrick and Monica Lewinsky." Many overhear Cobain angrily ranting about Hitchens and cursing him out, swearing for legal recourse.

October 22, 2000-Hitchens pays a visit to Courtney Love, offering to incorporate anything she has to say into his next article about Cobain. Love is visibly under the influence of various painkillers when this offer is made, and she accepts.
 
(Btw, I removed Bono's death so that he merely injured his legs in the car accident. Now ITTL, U2 continues with no changes to the OTL and they're a part of the MoM tour.)

So Pop and All That You Can't Leave Behind still occur, and Bono still gets unfairly tarred as an arrogant, self-aggrandizing prick, especially in his advocacy with Africa. Yet Bob Geldof has never gotten that much flak for his singular focus. Anyways, know how South Park will lampoon/attack Cobain on the eve of the election, or the margin of Gore's victory?
 
October 23, 2000-The latest salvo in Hitchens' tirade against Cobain is launched. Buoyed by the support of Love, Cobain is accused of being a serial womanizer. Love states "I know for a fact that Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder broke up because Kurt was fucking her. I hear he's constantly at the Playboy Mansion while Mary Lou is stuck at home with OUR kids." Hitchens embroiders this further to state that Cobain is a hypocrite, and is in fact an actual rapist, saying that "Polly" is proof of his deviant lifestyle. "Why would you write remotely sympathetically about such an incident unless you do the same action yourself?" Cobain is livid, and officially files a lawsuit against Hitchens for libel and defamation of character. Don Henley and the various other artists also join in the lawsuit. Henley files his own separate lawsuit against Don Felder, whom is immediately fired from the Eagles for his inflammatory statements. Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit and Irving Azoff also are named as plantiffs in the Felder suit.

Late October 2000-South Park lampoons Cobain and the Millennium of Miracles in the episode entitled "Gore-friends!" The MoM is referred to as a Superfriends-like entity fighting against the "Bush League". Frances is made up as a Scrappy Doo-like character, Courtney Love as like Harley Quinn, Governor Bush as the Joker, and Vice President Gore as Batman. The plot involves rescuing Eric Cartman from being trapped in a never-ending C-SPAN marathon by the Bush League. Cobain chortles about the episode, calling it "funny as hell."
 

oberdada

Gone Fishin'
Talking about Bob Geldorf, can we please have Cobain play Berlin if Live8 isn't butterflied away?
(Brian Wilson won't be there after all)

EDIT: Neither will be Green Day
2. Edit: Audioslave who also played, likely won't exist if Chris Connell has something else to do
 
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I meant especially for LIVE8.

(Every band plays in Berlin sooner or later unless it's the Beatles or the Smith.)
Yeah, he'll definitely be a part of LIVE8 and I think the rest of Nirvana will too. From the way it looks so far ITTL, Nirvana's pretty much back together at least part time. Dave Grohl will split his time between the Foo Fighters and Nirvana and Nirvana will pretty much be the Green Day of this timeline, in that it will become the de facto political rock band of the 2000s.
 
November 1, 2000-Cobain visits Love in the facility and a lengthy screaming match between the two unfolds. Many try to tune things out and ignore it. Most notably, Cobain's voice is filled with venom at Christopher Hitchens for taking advantage of Love's mental state. Love simply snorts that "at least someone gave me attention for once after all these years. It's more than you ever did for me." Cobain threatens to have the right of visitors rescinded.
 

oberdada

Gone Fishin'
December 2002: The movie "About a Boy" starring Hugh Grant premieres in London.
The Movie features 5 minutes of a secret show Nirvana played in the Spring of the same year recreating a concert from 1994 that plays a key part in the novel by Nick Hornby.

The DVD Version released in 2004 contains 20 min bonus material from the concert.

(That movie done right in TTL, just had to do it)
 
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