Kid Cudi Dons Dress + Green Cardigan to Honor Kurt Cobain on ‘Saturday Night Live’
Rapper Kid Cudi was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, but both of his performances offered a nod of tribute to late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, whose death anniversary was marked over this past week. During his performances he wore a distinctive green cardigan and a flower print white dress, both looks that were familiar during Cobain's performance days.
Cudi's performance of "Tequila Shots" found the musician sporting the green cardigan unbuttoned so that fans could view another tribute, that of late Saturday Night Live cast member Chris Farley whose photo was emblazoned on his T-shirt.
Kid Cudi, "Tequila Shots" (Saturday Night Live)
The second performance for "Sad People" caught the attention of many when Cudi took the stage in a white, flower-print spaghetti-strap dress, which he finished with a smile and a curtsy. Both songs appear on Cudi's new album, Man on the Moon III: The Chosen.
Kid Cudi, "Sad People" (Saturday Night Live)
Twitter quickly lit up after the "Sad People" performance with fans pointing out the Cobain tributes of both performances. A sampling of tweets about the performance can be viewed below.
It was not uncommon for Cobain to don a dress during his time in Nirvana. He appeared on the cover of The Face magazine in 1993 in a dress and spoke of his decision to wear them as a statement on sexism.
"Wearing a dress shows I can be as feminine as I want," he once told the LA Times. "I'm a heterosexual... big deal. But if I was a homosexual, it wouldn't matter either." He also shared with Melody Maker, “There’s nothing more comfortable than a cosy flower pattern.”
Meanwhile, the green cardigan has long been associated with Cobain as it was the garment he wore through the band's MTV Unplugged performance. It turned out to be one of the band's last live performances as Cobain died a few months later. That MTV Unplugged set was later released as the posthumous concert album, MTV Unplugged in New York. The cardigan sold for $334,000 at an auction in 2019.
Update: Kid Cudi addressed his dress that was designed by Louis Vitton artistic director Virgil Abloh and his tribute to Kurt Cobain in a series of tweets on Sunday.