Richard Ashcroft Feared He’d Kill Himself Like Kurt Cobain If He Didn’t Rest From Music

Richard Ashcroft took a six year break from music as he didn’t want to end up a rock casualty like Kurt Cobain.

The 44-year-old is returning to the limelight with his new solo album These People next month.

But he said it took him six years to produce because he didn’t want to stress himself to the point where he may have felt like taking his own life, as Nirvana frontman Cobain did aged 27 in 1994.

Ashcroft, above, told The Guardian about Cobain, below: “There’s no point writing a suicide note like Kurt Cobain. If you haven’t got it, take a break.

“Also I don’t want to be on stage when I feel like I’m cheating the audience… it’s like have I got anything to offer or am I just adding more s**t to the pile?

“All those stabs in the back and ceilings that have been put on me in my life started building up again, so I’ve come back fighting.”

Ashcroft also revealed he refused to live up to the rock ’n’ roll stereotype to please his hard-living Britpop peers.