SEATTLE — Employees at a Seattle record store found an uncashed royalty check to Kurt Cobain while cleaning out a basement.
The Nirvana frontman was on the precipice of stardom when the $26.57 check, dated March 6, 1991, was issued. The band’s seminal album, “Nevermind,” was released Sept. 24, 1991.
The check was found Aug. 29 at Easy Street Records by store owner Matt Vaughn.
"Last week, I was moving some stuff around and guess found a moment of reflection, sat there in the basement and flipped through every page," Vaughn told CNN. "That's when these thin pieces of paper dropped out."
It's unclear how the check got there to begin with. Vaughn bought the record collection the check fell out of in the early 1990s and then stored it in the basement for all these years, Atlas Obscura reported.
Easy Street Records opened in 1988 and has hosted more than 500 performances by artists including Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Lana Del Rey and Pearl Jam.
Vaughn also found other Cobain-related items, including a receipt for a money order for rent, a backstage pass and a medical bill.
"It's almost like these were reminders to him -- or good luck charms -- of harder times, of what he had gone through," Vaughn told CNN. "It also puts things into perspective that he was no different than any of us. We all understand what it's like to be past due on a doctor bill. We know what it's like for your landlord to only accept cash. We know what it's like to have so small of a check that you don't even want to go into the bank to cash it."
Cox Media Group
