We are coming up on April 5, the 30th anniversary of the death of Kurt Cobain, lead singer for the grunge band, Nirvana.

Harry Nilsson died January 15, 1994, just three months before Cobain pulled the plug, yet Nilsson's death scarcely caused a blip in the media radar. This is unfortunate because Nilsson's career was much more far-reaching than Cobain's. Nilsson's music transcended gender and generations.

Nilsson's music was the soundtrack for many movies; indeed, the soundtrack for an era. His first big hit, Everybody's Talking, was from the best picture of 1969, Midnight Cowboy. Towards the end of his life, Nilsson's rendition of How About You set the tone for the film, The Fisher King.

In between, the sounds of Harry Nilsson permeated many other movies. He sang the opening credits on Skidoo, an Otto Preminger comedy. Nilsson’s tunes can be found on Goodfellas, The World's Greatest Lover, Son of Dracula, Dusty and Sweets McGee, and many other films.

He wrote almost all the songs for Popeye and created his own film, The Point. Since his death, Nilsson's songs have appeared on The X-Files, Forrest Gump, You've Got Mail, and Shanghai Knights.

Nilsson made hits of songs by other people; As Time Goes By (from Casablanca), River Deep-Mountain High (various), an entire album of songs by Randy Newman, and many more. And other musicians covered his songs – Three Dog Night, the Monkees, Herb Albert, Glen Campbell, and the Yardbirds.

In fact, John Lennon cared enough about Nilsson's music to create an album with him. Nilsson's tunes can be heard on commercials, at the circus, on radio, films, television, and Muzak.

Nilsson was a master of irony and wit. Examples of his humor and pathos abound. He shared his humor with his fans with songs like You're Breaking My Heart. He endeared the very young with tender tunes like Me and My Arrow (from The Point).

Nilsson gained an older generation of fans with his album of pre-1940 standards, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night. And he enchanted everyone with classics like I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City.

In the music industry you could say Nilsson died of natural causes. His heart attack at age 52 was, no doubt, brought on by years of the New York/Los Angeles night life. But Nilsson was more than a sharp wit or a hearty party man.

He was honored with a Grammy in 1969 and 1972 and recorded 20 albums (two of them gold). He could sing in three octaves. He spoke out against senseless violence after the murder of his friend, John Lennon.

Tributes to Nilsson include the CD compilation, For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson and the film. Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?

Nilsson was survived by his wife of 18 years and seven children. He deserves to be remembered much more than Kurt Cobain. But I guess that's just the way the story goes.