Frances Bean Cobain - 30 years old and practicing 'radical gratitude'

Frances Bean Cobain owes her fame to her musician parents Courtney Love and the late grunge icon Kurt Cobain. Frances recently celebrated her 30th birthday, making Nirvana fans around the globe feel rather ancient.

Nonetheless, Frances, who holds an eerie resemblance to her late father, shared on her Instagram account that she wasn't always 100% sure she would make it to her thirties.

Photo: Instagram@thespacewitch

To celebrate her three decades on the planet, on August 18, Cobain shared a compilation of photos in honor of her big day, writing, "30 !!! I made it!"

She then reflected on her struggles and a near-death experience that caused her to change how she looked at life. Cobain wrote, "Honestly, 20-year-old Frances wasn't sure that was going to happen" (referring to turning 30).

Frances continued: "At the time, an intrinsic sense of deep self-loathing dictated by insecurity, destructive coping mechanisms & more trauma than my body or brain knew how to handle, informed how I saw myself and the world...."

She continued, "...through a lens of resentment for being brought into a life that seemingly attracted so much chaos and the kind of pain tied to grief that felt inescapable."

In 2017, when Frances was on a plane, one of its wings caught fire. This experience had a profound impact on her.

Frances wrote about it in her birthday message, "Then, an event on a plane which brought me closer in proximity to death is ironically the event that catapulted me towards running at this lived experience with radical gratitude. I'm glad to have proven myself wrong & to have found ways to transform pain into knowledge."

Photo: Instagram@thespacewitch

To "live with radical gratitude" seems to have helped Frances Bean Cobain overcome many of the mental health issues she has struggled with.

She was born into wealth and fame, she was famous even before birth; Frances Bean's sonogram photo was featured on the sleeve of Nirvana's 1992 single "Lithium." Despite all of this, Cobain hasn't had an "easy" life.

Frances Bean Cobain was born in Los Angeles in 1992, and Kurt and Courtney named her after The Vaselines guitarist Frances McKee.

However, both her parents struggled with substance abuse at the time, and child welfare services eventually had to get involved.

Frances was removed from her parents' custody when she was just two weeks old.

Following an intense legal battle, Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain regained custody of their only child.

But Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain's substance abuse issues would affect Frances Bean Cobain for nearly the rest of her life.

Frances' mother, Courtney, told The Fix that even when she was pregnant with Frances, her husband, "Kurt [Cobain] was using a lot of heroin," and it was widely reported that he continued to do so until his death.

In fact, according to Charles R. Cross in 'Heavier than Heaven,' the last time Frances saw her father alive was at the Exodus Recover Center, a rehab center, on April 1, 1994. Just one week later, he was found dead in Seattle in his home.

Things were not much better for Frances with her mother after her father died.

The Daily Mail reported that in 2009 Frances Bean revealed in court testimony that Courtney Love "has taken drugs for as long as I can remember" and that she "basically exists now on...Xanax, Adderall, Sonata and Abilify."

In addition to Frances' statements about her mother's addiction issues, Love has been arrested for substance-related offenses on multiple occasions and spent much of Frances' childhood in and out of rehab centers.

Image: Sky News

According to ABC News, Love said that between 2001 and 2004, "I was on drugs and nothing I wrote made any sense," a period of time that coincides with Frances' tween years.

In fact, when Frances Bean was just 11 years old in 2003, Love again lost custody of her daughter for the second time.

MTV reported that Love lost custody of Frances when the 11-year-old was present during her mother's overdose and subsequent arrest.

Frances was frequently placed in the care of her paternal grandmother, Wendy O'Connor, and her father's sister, Kimberly Cobain.

Pictured: Wendy and Kimberly in NYC in 2014.

Despite her addictions, Courtney Love was keen to regain custody of her daughter. In 2005, Love went to court after a stay in rehab, stating, "my kid is my first priority."

However, just months after regaining custody, CNN reported that Love violated the conditions of her probation.

By the time Frances was seventeen, she had had enough of her tumultuous home environment and decided to live with her grandmother permanently.

Frances had told Haper's Bazaar two years earlier that her grandmother was "the most constant thing I've ever had."

As a result, Courtney Love once again lost custody of her child and many accused Love of having relapsed.

However, Frances' mother told People, "Frances is 17 and a strong-willed child, and this is a decision she made on her own."

Taking care of her drug-addicted mother could not have been an easy task, and growing up in an unstable home took its toll.

In 2018, Frances Bean spoke of this on the podcast 'RuPaul: What's the Tee?' saying, "I was so ..... bitter and angry and upset and resentful for a really long time."

Despite her anger, Cobain did say that she likes who her mother is "when [she] is on a right and healthy path."

However, when it comes to Courtney's addiction, she understands there is little she can do, saying, "I also don't expect that my opinions are going to deter her decisions."

It is unsurprising that Frances also has struggled with addiction despite her disdain for her mother's actions.

However, but 2016, she managed to work through her issues and get sober.

On the podcast 'RuPaul: What's The Tee?' Cobain said "sober companions" were the key for her.

She then said, "I keep myself accountable, channeling my fanatical, addictive personality and tendencies into really healthy things."

In 2018 Frances shared that she was two years sober in an Instagram post which has since been deleted.

According to People she wrote, "Self-destruction and toxic consumption and deliverance from pain is a lot easier to adhere to. Undeniably, for myself and those around me, becoming present is the best decision I have ever made."

Despite her unstable childhood and struggles with addiction, Frances has made out alright. She has done some modeling over the years and was even the face of Marc Jacobs in 2017.

Frances Bean is also an artist, sharing her work both on Instagram and through exhibits.

Cobain is also in love. In January 2022, she went IG official with Riley Hawk, the son of skating boarding legend Tony Hawk.

Photo: Instagram@thespacewitch