Activision Digs Up Kurt Cobain for Guitar Hero 5

Kurt Cobain, the late and legendary frontman for Nirvana, will be a playable character in Guitar Hero 5, Activision has announced. Accordingly, two of Nirvana’s 90s grunge hits, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Lithium,” will be playable when the game’s released for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and PS2 on September 1. The franchise has come a pretty long way in terms of getting actual rock stars to appear in the game, from having none in the first two Guitar Heroes and adding Slash and Tom Morello to Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. For the latest game, Cobain will appear alongside Carlos Santana, Johnny Cash, Shirley Manson of Garbage and Matt Bellamy of Muse. The story of how Activision got the rights to Cobain’s likeness is detailed in Rolling Stone, and it’s actually pretty fascinating (The short version: Courtney Love is obsessive). [via Press Release and Rolling Stone]