This past week marked the 15th anniversary of the death of Kurt Cobain. The body of the Nirvana frontman was discovered on April 8, 1994, though the coroner’s report later concluded he’d killed himself three days earlier.

I was in college at the time, studying in my apartment with MTV when another Kurt—Kurt Loder—interrupted the music channel’s programming with news of Cobain’s suicide. Though the announcement didn’t come as a complete shock (there had been an earlier attempt just a few weeks earlier), I was still stunned to hear Cobain had indeed killed himself. Saddened, too. (Loder published an updated tribute this week.)

Fifteen years later, Cobain’s impact on music continues to reverberate. Just a few months following his death, Sinead O’Connor covered “All Apologies” for her album, Universal Mother (the original version had been released on Nirvana’s In Utero just a year before). Though I couldn’t track down information as to why O’Connor selected the track, it’s easy to assume she sensed a kindred spirit in Cobain; both musicians found themselves unlikely stars and were quite uncomfortable in the spotlight.

Nirvana was no stranger to cover songs, having recorded both David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World” and Leadbelly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” for their MTV Unplugged appearance. That same taping gave us the version of “All Apologies” we remember most.

While O’Connor’s cover of “All Apologies” is less haunting than the band’s acoustic performance, she strips the song down further for her reverential take. Accompanied only by a barely strummed guitar, the fragility of the song is thrown into relief by her beautiful voice. Hear here:

Purchase Sinead O’Connor – “All Apologies” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.