Diaries revealing Kurt Cobain's battle with heroin addiction sold for £2.8m

Diaries exposing the secret life of Kurt Cobain, the Nirvana singer who killed himself eight years ago, have been sold to a publishing house for £2.8m.

Cobain's estate, which is managed by his widow, Courtney Love, struck the deal with Riverhead Books, a US subsidiary of the British media giant Pearson, after fierce bidding. The journals, which are said to include frank accounts of Cobain's battles with depression and heroin addiction, are likely to be published this year.

Cobain, who was 27 when he killed himself in 1994, began writing his diaries when he was a teenager and continued during his to fame. James Barber, who assists Ms Love in managing the estate, told an American newspaper yesterday that the diaries contained "really cool stuff". There are revelations about encounters with groupies and a handwritten draft of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which took the Seattle grunge band to the top of the charts. There are also lists of Cobain's favourite records, rules he set for the band and letters from fans.

Although the publication is bound to provoke renewed speculation about the life and death of the controversial star, Mr Barber insisted the estate was conscious of protecting his reputation. "He's not here and [our] responsibility is to promote his creativity and his legacy," he said.

Julie Grau, editorial director of Riverhead, part of Penguin Putnam, said: "The journals are an intimate portrait of an artist of great influence."

They were a vital source for Charles Cross's biography of the singer, Heavier than Heaven, after he was granted access to them by Courtney Love. She has provoked much criticism before and since Cobain's death in 1994, standing accused of manipulating him in life and then exerting unreasonable control of his legacy.