Frances Cobain was born on August 18, 1992, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. She was named after Frances McKee, the guitarist for the Scottish indie pop duo The Vaselines.

On April 1, 1994, Frances visited her father at the Exodus Recovery Center, a rehab center in Marina Del Rey, California, where they played together. This was the last time she saw her father alive; one week later, he was found dead at his home in Seattle. Frances was subsequently raised by her mother, aunts, and paternal grandmother. She spent her early years in Seattle and Los Angeles, and was placed in her grandmother’s care for a time after her mother’s drug-related arrest in October 2003. Hours after the arrest, Love overdosed on painkillers. Love regained custody of Frances in 2005.

In September 2005, 13-year-old Cobain gave her first interview, to Teen Vogue, in which she discussed her personal style and mentioned her parents.

In August 2006, she was photographed for Elle magazine in her father’s famous brown cardigan and pajama pants as part of an article featuring children of rock stars in their parents’ clothing. She explained, “I wore his pajamas because he got married in them to my mom in 1992 in Hawaii so I thought they would be cute if I wore them today. He was too lazy to put on a tux so he got married in pajamas!” In February 2008, she appeared in a photo spread for Harper’s Bazaar dressed as Evita. Cobain modeled for Hedi Slimane for a web photo series released August 2, 2011. In 2016, she modeled alongside Alice Glass in a spread for Schön! magazine shot by Floria Sigismondi. In 2017, she was announced as the face of Marc Jacobs’s Spring/Summer campaign for that year, shot by David Sims.

According to Rolling Stone magazine, the title and cover photograph for the 2005 Nirvana rarities album Sliver: The Best of the Box were chosen by 13-year old Cobain. Cobain worked as an intern for Rolling Stone magazine from June to August 2008. She was featured in the magazine years later, photographed by David LaChapelle. In 2009, it was reported that Cobain had turned down the role of Alice in Tim Burton’s film Alice in Wonderland.

On December 11, 2009, a California Superior Court in Los Angeles appointed Wendy O’Connor, her paternal grandmother, and Kimberly Cobain, her father’s sister, as Cobain’s temporary co-guardians. On December 16, 2009, a judge issued a related temporary restraining order prohibiting Love from having any direct or indirect contact with her daughter. The papers were filed under the heading “motion to seal all documents… relating to a minor and allegations of domestic violence”. Among those documents are Frances Cobain’s medical records, according to the filing.

In July 2010, Cobain debuted a collection of artwork titled Scumfuck under the pseudonym “Fiddle Tim” at the La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles. On August 4, 2012, she participated in the group show ‘MiXTAPE’ under her real name. Artists were asked to pick a song and create art inspired by that song. Cobain chose the song “Black” by The Jesus and Mary Chain. The eclectic mix of songs chosen were featured for digital download on iTunes. Opening on June 7, 2017 through June 30, Cobain and artist Lindsey Way held a joint art exhibition titled “Ghosts For Sale” at Gallery 30 South in Pasadena.

Cobain appeared as a guest vocalist on the song “My Space” from the album Evelyn Evelyn by Evelyn Evelyn, which was released on March 30, 2010. Amanda Palmer from Evelyn clarified that Cobain was one of some 20 artists who sang the same line and whose voices were mixed together in the recording. Cobain was also an executive producer on the HBO movie about her father’s life, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. In 2019, she appeared as a special guest judge in one episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 4.

On August 18, 2010, Cobain inherited 37% of her late father’s estate. She now controls the publicity rights to her father’s name and image instead of Love. Cobain has said she is not a fan of grunge bands, instead preferring the music of artists such as Oasis, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Nina Simone, but she has said she likes the songs “Territorial Pissings” and “Dumb”.

Cobain and musician Isaiah Silva married on June 29, 2014, though the wedding date was widely misreported as around September 2015. By March 23, 2016, Cobain had filed for divorce. By November 30, 2017, the couple had divorced.