On the 30th anniversary of Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind,’ Courtney Love shocked the band’s fans by stating that Kurt Cobain wouldn’t be dead if Eddie Vedder had achieved fame sooner.

The ‘Nevermind’ album includes many tracks that led Nirvana to success and made the band widely recognized in the grunge scene. These tracks were ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ ‘Come as You are,’ and ‘Lithium.’ ‘Nevermind’ celebrated its 30th anniversary on September 24, and for this occasion, Kurt Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, gave an interview and spoke about the album.

According to Love, life would have been simpler for Nirvana if the band had released ‘In Bloom’ as the debut track on the album. Nirvana’s fame escalated quickly after ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ became the first track in the album.

Love claimed that she wanted ‘In Bloom’ to be the lead single, but no one listened to her. She continued to add that if Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder had gotten famous before Nirvana, then Kurt Cobain wouldn’t be so famous. Perhaps then, Cobain wouldn’t have committed suicide.

Here is what she said about ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and Eddie Vedder:

“Life would have turned out simpler and better had I been heard. I’m not really a fan of the idea that it all could have been that different, but ‘In Bloom’ might have shifted things. He might have survived had somebody else [gone first]. Like Eddie Vedder, somebody who had good infrastructure.

We were in Salem, Ore. when ‘Nevermind’ went to No. 1. He cried. I cried. We were really scared. He loved what ‘Nevermind’ was. He licked his lips and was like ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa.’ But he hid it really well, so he’s attributed these saintly qualities. He possessed modesty, and he put forth this public virtue persona, and he was good at that. But he worked it. He worked it like Kate Moss works her cheekbones.”

Love later continued to speak about ‘Nevermind’ and recalled the time she and Cobain heard that Nirvana’s album ranked No. 1 for the first time. She told how scared they were because even though Cobain loved the album, it seems like they weren’t ready for the fame.