Kurt Cobain wanted to join up with Courtney Love in Hole and be recognised as a classic songwriter like Johnny Cash, according to an interview with a French TV journalist only months before his death.

"It’s a nice thought (collaborations with Courtney)," he said. "I’d like to, but to tell you the truth, I would rather just quit my band and join Hole, you know – only because when I have played music with them, there’s a level of connection that’s a little bit higher than with anyone else I ever played with. It’s amazing.

"It’s totally satisfying for Courtney and I, but completely unrealistic because we’re already so intertwined with each other. Most people don’t think of the band Nirvana, they think of Kurt and Courtney and it gets in the way. People would just overlook the music and look into other things. It’s such a sad situation. I really wish we could just join band. It wouldn’t be considered a real band."

The interview was seemingly been lost in the archives for more than a decade. Only a small part of the interview was broadcast on French television and it was never translated into English.

Cobain hinted at his plans for the future, which were cut short by his 1994 suicide.

"It might be nice to start playing acoustic guitar and be thought of as a singer and a songwriter, rather than a grunge rocker because then I might be able to take advantage of that when I’m older. I could sit down on a chair and play acoustic guitar like Johnny Cash or something, and it won’t be a big joke."