Who is the band Nirvana?
A popular rock band in the early 1990s and still influential today, Nirvana was the brainchild of bassist Krist Novoselic and the now-famous singer Kurt Cobain. After several changes in the lineup, they were joined by drummer Dave Grohl, who now leads the popular band Foo Fighters.Nirvana helped popularize “grunge,” a gritty form of rock ‘n’ roll that started in Seattle. The band’s third album, “Nevermind” (1991), racked up the kinds of sales that record executives dream about, and for many American rock fans, it was a revelation after years of metal and other ’80s sounds. “The key to entertainment is variety,” says Brad Tolinski, editor in chief of Guitar World magazine. “It just so happened that these guys out in Seattle had combined certain aspects that became appealing.”
For Nirvana’s last studio album, “In Utero” (1993), Cobain said he intentionally wrote songs that he hoped would alienate mainstream radio and shrink the band’s fan base. Nevertheless, Cobain made for a charismatic singer, and his soul-baring lyrics, accompanied by heavy guitar and drums, continued to appeal to a mass audience. “It added this emotional, almost intellectual element into metal,” says Tolinski, joking, “We’re still suffering from it. Every time you turn on the radio, you hear a rock song with somebody whining.”
The same emotional turmoil that fueled the band’s music also led to its demise. After a failed suicide attempt in Rome, Cobain returned to the USA. He soon checked into a rehab facility but, unwilling to complete the treatment, he escaped by climbing over a wall. A week later, on April 8, 1994, his body was found in his Seattle home. He had committed suicide.
In 2002, after a long legal battle between the surviving members of Nirvana and Cobain’s widow, singer/actress Courtney Love, the compilation “Nirvana” was released containing the band’s final studio recording, a previously unreleased song titled “You Know You’re Right.”