| This article is about the American grunge band.For other uses, see Nirvana (disambiguation).Dave Grohl, who joined the band in 1990.With the lead single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from their 1991 album Nevermind, Nirvana entered into the mainstream, bringing along with it a subgenre of alternative rock called grunge.As Nirvana's frontman, Kurt Cobain found himself referred to in the media as the "spokesman of a generation", with Nirvana the "flagship band" of "Generation X".Cobain was uncomfortable with the attention and placed his focus on the band's music, challenging the band's audience with their third studio album In Utero.Nirvana's brief run ended with Cobain's death in April 1994, but the band's popularity continued in the years that followed.Since their debut, the band has sold over fifty million albums worldwide.Nirvana remains a consistent presence on radio stations worldwide.Final months and Cobain's death
1.Front to back: Cobain, Everman, Channing, Novoselic.After a couple of false starts at forming their own band, the duo recruited drummer Aaron Burckhard, creating the first incarnation of what would eventually become Nirvana.Cobain later described the sound of the band when they first started as "a Gang of Four and Scratch Acid ripoff."He was temporarily replaced by Dale Crover of the Melvins, who played on the band's first demos.The band finally settled on Nirvana in early 1988, which Cobain said was chosen because "I wanted a name that was kind of beautiful or nice and pretty instead of a mean, raunchy punk rock name like the Angry Samoans."Nirvana played their first show under the name that March.To record Bleach, the band turned to noted local producer Jack Endino, who had recorded the band's first studio demos.Mudhoney, and by the 70s rock of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin.Novoselic noted in a 2001 interview with Rolling Stone that the band had played a tape in their van while on tour that had an album by The Smithereens on one side and an album by the black metal band Celtic Frost on the other, and noted that the combination probably played an influence as well.Bleach became a favorite of college radio stations nationally, but gave few hints of where the band would find itself two years later.Everman was introduced to Cobain by Dylan Carlson, but had known Channing since the fifth grade.Everman began hanging out with the band, and offered to loan the money to them for the recording.In a late 1989 interview, Cobain noted that the band's music was changing.But as time goes on the songs are getting poppier and poppier as I get happier and happier.The songs are now about conflicts in relationships, emotional things with other human beings."Not long after the sessions were complete, Channing was gone from the band.After a few weeks with Dale Crover of The Melvins filling in, Nirvana hired Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters, with whom they recorded the song "Sliver".Disenchanted with Sub Pop and with the Smart Studios sessions generating interest, Nirvana decided to look for a deal with a major record label.Sample of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the first single from the band's breakthrough release Nevermind (1991).Problems listening to the file?Following repeated recommendations by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, Nirvana signed to DGC Records in 1990.The band subsequently began recording its first major label album, Nevermind.They were offered a number of producers to choose from, but ultimately held out for Butch Vig.Rather than recording at Vig's Madison studio as they had in 1990, they shifted to Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California.For two months, the band worked through a variety of songs in their catalog.After the album's release members of Nirvana expressed dissatisfaction with the polished sound the mixer had given Nevermind.However, the album's first single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" quickly gained momentum, thanks in part to significant airplay of the song's music video on MTV.By Christmas 1991, Nevermind was selling 400,000 copies a week in the US.On January 11, 1992, the album reached number one on the Billboard album charts, replacing Michael Jackson's album Dangerous.In February 1992, following the band's Pacific Rim tour, Cobain married Hole frontwoman Courtney Love in Hawaii.Love gave birth to a daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, the following August.Citing exhaustion, the band decided not to undertake another U.Nevermind, instead opting to make only a handful of performances later that year.Reading Festival in England.Amid rumors about Cobain's health and the possibility the band might break up, Cobain entered the stage in a wheelchair as a practical joke, then proceeded to get up and join the rest of the band in tearing through an assortment of old and new material.Less than two weeks later, Nirvana performed at the MTV Video Music Awards.They insisted that the band could not play "Rape Me", even threatening to throw Nirvana off of the show and stop airing their videos entirely.After a series of intense discussions, MTV and Nirvana agreed that the band would play "Lithium", their latest single.Near the end of the song, frustrated that his amp had stopped functioning, Novoselic decided to toss his bass into the air for dramatic effect.As Cobain trashed their equipment, Grohl ran to the mic and began yelling "Hi, Axl!"Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose, with whom the band and Courtney had had a bizarre encounter prior to the show.Many of Nirvana's radio sessions and unreleased early recordings were starting to circulate via trading circles and illegal bootlegs, so the album served to circumvent the bootleggers.The album contained songs from previously released singles and EPs, including "Sliver" and "Dive", as well as material from the band's sessions for the BBC, including "Been a Son", "Aneurysm", and covers of songs by The Vaselines and Devo.Pixies album Surfer Rosa.For example, one song on In Utero featuring long periods of shrill feedback noise was titled, ironically, "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter".However, Cobain insisted that Albini's sound was simply the one he had always wanted Nirvana to have: a "natural" recording without layers of studio trickery.Several weeks after the completion of the recording sessions, stories ran in the Chicago Tribune and Newsweek that quoted sources claiming DGC considered the album "unreleasable."As a result, fans began to believe that the band's creative vision might be compromised by their label.Shaped Box" and "All Apologies" did not sound "perfect".Nirvana hasn't gone mainstream, though this potent new album may once again force the mainstream to go Nirvana."That fall, Nirvana embarked on a US tour, its first major tour of the States since the success of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".For the tour, the band added Pat Smear of the punk rock band The Germs as a second guitarist.Final months and Cobain's death
In November 1993, Nirvana performed for MTV Unplugged.The setlist also included a few relatively obscure covers, with members of the Meat Puppets joining the band for covers of three of their songs.While rehearsals for the show had been problematic, MTV Unplugged producer Alex Coletti noted that the actual taping went exceedingly well, with every song performed in one take and with the complete set lasting under an hour, which were both unusual for Unplugged sessions.Cause I knew he was right."The band's performance debuted on MTV on December 14, 1993.In early 1994, the band embarked on a European tour.Following a tour stop at Terminal Eins in Munich, Germany, on March 1, Cobain was diagnosed with bronchitis and severe laryngitis.The next night's show at the same venue was canceled.In Rome, on the morning of March 4, Love found Cobain unconscious and he was rushed to the hospital.In the ensuing weeks, Cobain's heroin addiction resurfaced.A |
