Nirvana

The Aberdeen, Washington trio of Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, who went from Sub Pop's Bleach to a number one album with Nevermind and ended after three studio albums.

Origin: Aberdeen, Washington, United States
Years active: 1987-1994
Genres: grunge, alternative rock, punk rock
Labels: Sub Pop, DGC

Aberdeen and Bleach

Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic met at Aberdeen High School in Washington state and became friends around the practice space of the Melvins. They formed Nirvana in 1987, and after a run of drummers the band first played under that name on 19 March 1988 in Tacoma. Cobain said he wanted a name that was beautiful or nice and pretty, not a mean, raunchy punk one.

Their first single, a cover of Shocking Blue's Love Buzz, came out on Sub Pop in November 1988. The producer Jack Endino recorded Bleach at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle that winter. The bill was $606.17, paid by the guitarist Jason Everman, who is credited on the sleeve although he did not play on it. The album appeared in June 1989 and had sold 40,000 copies in North America before Nevermind. In 1990 the drummer Chad Channing left, and in September Buzz Osborne of the Melvins introduced the band to Dave Grohl.

Nevermind

Nirvana moved to DGC Records after repeated recommendations from Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. The band held out for Butch Vig as producer and recorded Nevermind at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys in May and June 1991, on a budget of $65,000. Andy Wallace, who had worked on Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss, mixed it. Cobain later said he was embarrassed by the finished sound and compared it to a Mötley Crüe record.

Geffen hoped for about 250,000 copies. Instead the first single, Smells Like Teen Spirit, took off on radio and MTV, and on 11 January 1992 the album replaced Michael Jackson's Dangerous at number one on the Billboard album chart. It has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. Come as You Are and Lithium followed as singles. In August 1992 the band headlined the closing night of the Reading Festival, and in December DGC released the rarities collection Incesticide.

In Utero and Unplugged

For the third album the band chose Steve Albini, whom Cobain picked because he had produced Surfer Rosa by the Pixies and Pod by the Breeders. They recorded In Utero in February 1993 at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, and paid for the sessions themselves. Afterward Cobain told the biographer Michael Azerrad that the grown-ups did not like it. The band had Scott Litt remix Heart-Shaped Box and All Apologies at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle that May. The album came out in September 1993 and entered at number one in both the US and the UK. Wal-Mart and Kmart declined to sell it.

On 18 November 1993 the band, with the second guitarist Pat Smear and the cellist Lori Goldston, taped an episode of MTV Unplugged. They played few of their hits and several covers, and the Meat Puppets' Cris and Curt Kirkwood joined them for three songs.

After

Nirvana's last concert was in Munich on 1 March 1994. Cobain was found dead at his home in Seattle on 8 April 1994, and the band ended. DGC released MTV Unplugged in New York on 1 November 1994. It entered the Billboard chart at number one and won a Grammy Award at the 1996 ceremony, the band's only one, and its last song was Where Did You Sleep Last Night. Grohl founded the Foo Fighters in 1994, and Novoselic turned to political activism.

Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, its first year of eligibility, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023. Novoselic, Grohl and Smear have played together again on occasion, among them the FireAid concert in Los Angeles on 30 January 2025. Writing in Pitchfork in 2011, Jess Harvell called Nevermind an unrepeatable object and In Utero the band's most harrowing statement.

Members

Kurt Cobain vocals, guitar (1987-1994)
Krist Novoselic bass (1987-1994)
Dave Grohl drums (1990-1994)
Chad Channing drums (1988-1990)
Pat Smear guitar (1993-1994)

Records

Bleach 1989 · Sub Pop
The debut on Sub Pop, recorded for $606.17 in a Seattle studio.
Nevermind 1991 · DGC
The second album and the first with Dave Grohl: it went to number one in January 1992 and has sold more than 30 million copies.
Incesticide 1992 · compilation · DGC
Sliver, Dive, demos and BBC sessions, issued in December 1992.
In Utero 1993 · DGC
The third and last studio album, recorded in six days with Steve Albini and debated for months before release.
MTV Unplugged in New York 1994 · live · DGC
Fourteen songs taped in one take among lilies and candles, released seven months after Cobain's death.

Songs

Smells Like Teen Spirit Nevermind · 1991
The lead single from Nevermind, written as an attempt at the ultimate pop song and credited to all three members of the band.
Come as You Are Nevermind · 1991
The second single from Nevermind, built on a watery chorus-pedal riff.
Lithium Nevermind · 1991
The fifth track on Nevermind, recorded in 1990 and again in 1991.
Heart-Shaped Box In Utero · 1993
The first single from In Utero, released in Europe only, with an Anton Corbijn video.
All Apologies In Utero · 1993
The closing song of In Utero, with cello by Kera Schaley, and a second life in the Unplugged version.
Where Did You Sleep Last Night MTV Unplugged in New York · 1994
A traditional song, also known as In the Pines, sung as the last number of the Unplugged show.

Melvins, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Foo Fighters, Meat Puppets

Where to go next

Official

Nirvana The official site, with the discography, videos and store.

Reference

Nirvana (band) A history of the band.
Nevermind The making and reception of the second album.
In Utero The Pachyderm sessions and the mixing dispute.
MTV Unplugged in New York Rehearsals, the taping and the release.
Bleach The Sub Pop debut.
Incesticide The 1992 rarities compilation and its sessions.
Smells Like Teen Spirit Writing, recording, video and legacy of the single.
Heart-Shaped Box From Rio demo to the Corbijn video.
All Apologies The In Utero version, the remix and the Unplugged version.
In the Pines The history of the folk song behind the Unplugged finale.

Writing and criticism

Pitchfork on the Nevermind reissue Jess Harvell on the album and its 20th anniversary editions.
Pitchfork on the In Utero reissue Stuart Berman on the album and its mixing dispute.

Fan sites and communities

Live Nirvana A fan archive with a concert chronology, sessions history, interview archive and song guide.

Sources

Nirvana (band), Wikipedia
Nevermind, Wikipedia
In Utero (album), Wikipedia
MTV Unplugged in New York, Wikipedia
Nirvana: Nevermind [20th Anniversary Edition], Pitchfork (2011-09-27)
Nirvana: In Utero [20th Anniversary Edition], Pitchfork (2013-09-24)
Nirvana, Nirvana official site