Kurt Cobain sound-a-like Ramiro Saavedra’s ability to mimic the late Nirvana frontman is currently wowing the internets, after the 27-year-old delivered eerily accurate versions of Nirvana tracks such as ‘Come as You Are’ and ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’
The guitarist from Arequipa, Peru appeared on national music talent show Yo Soy , where he blew away the judges with his uncanny impersonation of the late Cobain, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Seattle in 1994. Cobain’s Nirvana is regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of all time.
Armed with an acoustic guitar, Saavedra played a medley of the Seattle band’s tracks from the breakthrough 1991 album Nevermind . The judges were so impressed they started making requests – not something I’ve previously seen on a talent show – and it’s nice to see the universal response to ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’s anthemic chorus is headbanging.
One judge praised Saavedra as “the best contestant that we’ve had [on the show]” in his post-performance verdict of the guitarist. Whether this is actual musical talent or simply a very fine phonetic impression, I’ll leave for you to decide. Here’s the video of Saavedra’s performance (the singing begins around 1:06 in).
