Nirvana was an American grunge rock band founded in 1987 from Aberdeen, Washington. The lead single “Smells like Teen Spirit” from the band’s 1991 album “Nevermind” helped Nirvana explode into the mainstream. It was the beginning of something new and was called “grunge”.
Band members included Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl. As the lead singer of Nirvana, Cobain referred to himself in the media as the band that spoke for Generation X. Cobain turned down the position and turned his attention to the band’s music, challenging the band’s audience with his third album, “In Utero”. While Nirvana’s overall popularity increased in the months after its release, its audience enjoyed the band’s dark interior, particularly after their 1993 performance on MTV Unplugged. Fans loved the punchy titles and lyrics that Nirvana had to offer.
When they appeared on MTV, they wanted to showcase their new song titled “Rape Me”. However, MTV executives decided that it would not be appropriate to air that. They allowed them to play another of their most recent hits, “Lithium.” Fans and MTV alike were shocked when Nirvana began with the opening lines of the banned song “Rape Me.” They then went directly to the song that had been approved. Fans loved the way Nirvana was pushing the envelope, so the band’s popularity continued to rise.
Love, marriage, a child, addiction and suicide
Cobain met and married Courtney Love in 1992. They seemed like the perfect match for each other. They had a daughter whom they named Francis Bean the following year. Her daughter was the apple of Cobain’s eye from the day she was born.
Cobain was reported to be addicted to heroin. Shortly after this came to light, an intervention was arranged and Cobain agreed to check into rehab but only stayed there for a short time. He reportedly jumped the wall of the treatment center and flew back to Seattle.
Just a week later, on April 8, 1994, Cobain’s body was found. He suffered a gunshot wound to the head and the music world was shocked. Nirvana were at the height of their success at the time this happened, shocking fans around the world.
Nirvana’s brief career ended with Cobain’s death in 1994, but the band’s popularity continued for years to come. Eight years after Cobain’s death, an unfinished demo the band recorded two months before Cobain’s death topped radio playlists around the world.
Since their debut, Nirvana have sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and continue to have a constant presence on radio stations. There is a Kurt Cobain tribute located at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada. All in all, Nirvana changed the way we saw and heard music, and they will be remembered for years to come as the first grunge band.
