11 Things You Didn't Know About Frances Bean Cobain

5. She Was Named After Frances McKee From The Vaselines

A common misconception about Frances Cobain is that her name was derived from, or at least someway connected to, the Nirvana song Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle. Frances Farmer was an actress who, in 1942, was arrested for drunk driving and made the mistake of going to Mexico, which violated her parole. When she returned, she was put in a mental institution where she reportedly underwent shock treatments and a lobotomy. In the song, Kurt Cobain likens himself to Farmer, and relates her battles against corporate Hollywood with his difficulty with his record label, which he felt was holding him back and stifling his art. In actuality though, Frances Cobain takes her name from Frances McKee, the singer and songwriter of Glaswegian grunge band The Vaselines of whom Kurt and Courtney were both huge fans. Her middle name is Bean, but that's for no other reason than Kurt thought that she looked like a bean during the couple's first ultrasound.