Nirvana
Formed in the small logging town of Aberdeen, Washington in 1987, Nirvana went from playing house parties to accidentally becoming the biggest rock band on the planet in under five years. Then it was over.
- Formed
- Aberdeen, Washington, 1987
- Members
- Kurt Cobain (vocals, guitar), Krist Novoselic (bass), Dave Grohl (drums, from 1990; earlier drummers included Chad Channing and Aaron Burckhard)
- Key albums
- Bleach (1989, Sub Pop), Nevermind (1991, DGC), In Utero (1993, DGC)
- Ended
- 1994, following Kurt Cobain's death
Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic started playing together in Aberdeen in 1987, cycling through drummers before settling, in 1990, on Dave Grohl (previously of DC hardcore band Scream). Their first album, Bleach, was recorded for about $600 and released on Sub Pop in 1989: a raw, sludgy record that fit comfortably into the label's existing roster alongside Mudhoney and Soundgarden.
Everything changed with Nevermind in September 1991. Produced by Butch Vig and mixed to be radio-friendly in a way Bleach never was, it paired pop songwriting instincts with Pixies-style loud/quiet dynamics. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" became inescapable on MTV and radio; the album knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous off the top of the Billboard 200 in January 1992, a result nobody at the label had projected. Almost overnight, Nirvana became the face of a scene that had, until then, been a regional curiosity.
The band's response to that fame was famously uneasy. 1993's In Utero, recorded with Steve Albini, was a deliberate move toward a harsher, less commercial sound, a reaction against being packaged as pop stars. Kurt Cobain died on April 5, 1994. The band's posthumously released MTV Unplugged in New York session, recorded just months earlier, became one of the most acclaimed live recordings of the decade.
#grunge.