Kurt and Courtney's daughter Francis Bean Cobain posts emotional message on her 30th birthday: "I'm happy to be here"

Frances Bean Cobain, in 2018
(Image credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Frances Bean Cobain, daughter of late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and former Hole leader Courtney Love, has posted an emotional message on Instagram upon reaching her 30th birthday.

In the note, Cobain expresses gratitude for the fact that she has made it to 30, candidly admitting, "Honestly, 20 year old Frances wasn’t sure that was going to happen."

Her message reads: "30!!! I made it! Honestly, 20 year old Frances wasn’t sure that was going to happen. At the time, an intrinsic sense of deep self loathing dictated by insecurity, destructive coping mechanisms & more trauma than my body or brain knew how to handle, informed how I saw myself and the world; through a lens of resentment for being brought into a life that seemingly attracted so much chaos and the kind of pain tied to grief that felt inescapable.

"Then, an event on a plane which brought me closer in proximity to death is ironically the event that catapulted me towards running at this lived experience with radical gratitude. I’m glad to have proven myself wrong & to have found ways to transform pain into knowledge.

"There’s a quote by @jaiyajohn I hold closely, which is “the softer she became with herself, the softer she became with the world”. It’s a sentiment I try to remember daily.

Entering this new decade I hope to stay soft no matter how hardening the world can feel at times, bask in the present moment with reverence, shower the people I am lucky enough to love with more appreciation than words could ever do justice & hold space to keep learning, so the growth never stops."

Cobain signs off her birthday message with the words, "I’m happy to be here & I’m happy you’re here too." 

Earlier this year, Post Malone revealed that he asked Frances Bean permission to perform her father's songs in his April 2020 Nirvana tribute livestream.

Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.