Cobain band mates denounce dead rocker's Guitar Hero gig

Activision and widow dispute rights

Guitar Hero 5 has failed to hit the right note with the surviving members of grunge band Nirvana.

Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl – now the Foo Fighters' frontman – are reportedly “dismayed and very disappointed” that a digital Kurt Cobain can be used by gamers to play songs by other bands in the latest incarnation of Activision’s videogame.

Cobain committed suicide in 1994.

"It's hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists' music alongside cartoon characters... We feel he deserves better," Grohl and Novoselic said in a statement.

"While we were aware of Kurt's image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn't know players have the ability to unlock the character. This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in 're-locking' Kurt's character so that this won't continue in the future."

Courtney Love, Cobain’s widow, has claimed that she never approved use of Cobain’s digital likeness.

However, Activision has since said that it secured the necessary licensing rights - signed by Love – to used Cobain’s likeness in Guitar Hero 5. ®