Drag queen and ‘Drag Race’ host RuPaul recently shared a video on Instagram about the story of his picture with Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl.
In the video, RuPaul explained where the picture was taken and recalled the conversation between him, Cobain, and Courtney Love. He said:
“Oh my Gosh, I remember this photo as if it were yesterday. It was the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love had come over to me and said that they had come to my show in Seattle, my nightclub act, but they got there several hours later. I think I went on early or something. I was gobsmacked because I didn’t know that they were fans or anything like that but they said they missed the show. The paparazzi at that moment said, ‘Hey, let’s take a picture together.’”
That’s when the Nirvana drummer sneakily took his opportunity to be in the picture. RuPaul continued:
“So Courtney said, ‘Do you want to hold our daughter?’ And I said, ‘Sure, yes!’ Of course, since she left her mama’s arms, she started crying and I was trying to soothe her so much so that I didn’t realize Dave Grohl had his hand around my waist. He looks very pleased in the picture.”
Cobain’s Friendship With RuPaul
RuPaul was close friends with the Nirvana singer. Even after the picture together with the band, they continued to see each other out of the band. RuPaul concluded his video by mentioning how many years it has been since the picture was taken and where Kurt’s daughter, Francis Bean, ended up:
“We would see each other out of the band. In fact we did Saturday Night Live together. There is a picture of us backstage at Saturday Night Live. That was, wow, 31 years ago. Of course I’ve had this conversation with Francis Bean [Cobain] about that photo. She grew up with that photo and she was a judge on ‘Drag Race.’ Wow, such memories.”
Francis Bean’s Memories With The Picture
The series of pictures spread all over the internet and it even ‘captured’ Frances Bean’s personality. During an episode of RuPaul’s podcast, ‘What’s The Tee,’ Frances talked about how the photo meant a lot to her growing up:
“I firmly believe that that photo captures my personality being made. You are the reason I am the way I am…”
However, it appears that RuPaul wasn’t the only drag queen around her growing up:
“You were not my only drag queen in my life from a very young age. I had drag nannies. I remember waking up next to a nanny of mine who used to do Miss Piggy-type drag in a red sequin dress and snout askew.”
You can see RuPaul’s Instagram video here.