Nirvana singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain was found dead eighteen years ago today in his Seattle home as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

This past Thursday was not only the anniversary of Cobain's estimated time of death according to forensics. April 5, 1980 was the day of R.E.M.'s first gig. And the connection between R.E.M. and Nirvana is interesting.

Like Cobain, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe understood reluctant rockstardom all too well. Their friendship began through the press as Cobain expressed admiration for R.E.M. and how they dealt with their success. They grew to be close friends.

By 1994, Stipe, like many in Nirvana's inner circle of friends and management, had grown concerned about Cobain's dangerous drug spiral. In an attempt to try and bring Cobain back from the abyss, Stipe — the godfather of Cobain and wife Courtney Love's only child, Frances Bean — planned a collaboration with the doomed grunge singer.

"I was doing that to try to save his life. The collaboration was me calling up as an excuse to reach out to this guy. He was in a really bad place," Stipe told Interview magazine earlier this year. "I constructed a project to try to snap Kurt out of a frame of mind. I sent him a plane ticket and a driver, and he tacked the plane ticket to the wall in the bedroom and the driver sat outside the house for 10 hours. Kurt wouldn't come out and wouldn't answer the phone."

Cobain took his own life a short time later.

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Stone Temple Pilots will probably not record or release a new album in 2012, contrary to previous reports. Guitarist Dean DeLeo says the band could hit the road and perform their debut album Core in its entirety to commemorate its 20th anniversary. A reissue packaged with previously unreleased material is also possible.

Green Day will induct Guns n' Roses into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame later this month, according to Rolling Stone. I believe the pairing to be odd considering Green Day's membership in the alt-rock movement of the early 90s, a reaction against the music and image of bands like GNR. But then again, Green Day themselves will be Hall Of Fame eligible in two years. Other presenters include Chris Rock inducting Red Hot Chili Peppers and Chuck D inducting Beastie Boys.

The Cult will release their new album Choice Of Weapon on May 22. They'll tour in support, hitting House of Blues Orlando on June 16. Florida's own Against Me! will open.

Refused will make their American television debut April 23 on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to coincide with their performance at Coachella. Refused fame was mostly posthumous since the band broke up shortly after their 1998 album The Shape Of Punk To Come, reuniting only recently.