Nirvana What started as a Seattle garage band turned out to be the definitive name in grunge and alternative rock when Nirvana burst on the scene in the early 1990s. Arguably credited as the band that made alternative rock a mainstream genre, Nirvana achieved huge success in its short-lived existence before lead-singer Kurt Cobain’s controversial death. The lovechild, so to speak, of founding members Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, Nirvana wasn’t even music in the making when the two first met in 1985. Both fans of The Melvins, Cobain and Novoselic tried starting their own band on several failed accounts while trying to find just the right drummer and name their band. In 1988, they formed what would later be the internationally known band, Nirvana. Together with drummer Chad Channing, Nirvana released their first official single in 1988 titled “Love Bug/Big Cheese”. In 1989, their first album, Bleach, was released on Sub Pop Records. Limited production and recognition on mostly only college campuses, the first Nirvana album held no clue of the success that was pending for the group. Nirvana’s groundbreaking success came in 1990 when the recorded the album Nevermind under DGC Records. After brining on board Jason Everman, long-time friend of Channing and a funding source for the first album, Nirvana let Channing go and hired drummer Dan Peters to record the song “Sliver”. Then Nirvana permanently brought drummer Dave Grohl on board and the rest is history, perhaps proving that the drummer is the backbone of a band.
With the release of the single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1991, the album Nevermind went triple-platinum in the and overtook the number one spot on the Billboard charts in January of 1992. Many claimed this event was the beginning of alternative rock’s triumph over pop music and bands have been trying to duplicate Nirvana’s sound and success ever since. Though Nirvana released the album Hormoaning under Geffen Records in and in 1992, their second album release in the was Incesticide, released in December of 1992. It contained B-sides and rarities for which no singles were released, but still made number 39 on the charts. In September of 1993, Nirvana released their next commercial album, In Utero. The album contained the singles “Heart-shaped Box”, “All Apologies”, and “Rape Me”, which was later changed to “Waif Me” due to the controversial title and a refusal by large chain retailers to carry the album. In Utero reached number one on the charts and sold over 5 million copies. However much success was reaped from a five-time platinum album, Nirvana would not survive the next year in tact. Kurt Cobain was found dead on April 8, 1994 and was officially concluded to have died of a gunshot wound to the head. Much controversy surrounded his apparent suicide, with some believing he was murdered. In the absence of Cobain, Nirvana essentially dissolved. However, the remaining members of the group have since released several albums. The first was in November of 1994 consisting of a compilation of songs from an earlier MTV Unplugged performance. A subsequent video compilation titled Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!, which contained a fair amount of footage by Cobain was released a few weeks later. Since the release of MTV Unplugged in New York, three other albums, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, the self titled Nirvana, and Sliver: The Best of the Box have been released by DGC Records. Sliver, released in November of 2005, contains a selection of songs from the boxed set With the Lights Out. In April of 2006, Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, announced she was selling 25% of her share of the Nirvana song catalogue to the head of Primary Wave Music Publishing in a deal she claimed was “true to the spirit of Nirvana while taking the music to places it had never been before”. |
