Nirvana was a popular and highly influential American grunge band. The band formed in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987, and was part of the Seattle grunge scene of the late 80s. Other Seattle grunge bands such as Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden also gained in popularity, and, as a result, alternative rock became a dominant genre on American and Canadian radio and music television during the early-to-mid ’90s.
Nirvana’s initial incarnation consisted of Kurt Cobain on guitar and vocals, bassist Krist Novoselic, and drummer Chad Channing. After a brief stint as a four-piece in 1989 with the addition of second guitarist Jason Everman, followed soon after by the replacement of Channing on drums in 1990, the band found the lineup that would form the core of the group when they added former Scream drummer Dave Grohl.
As Nirvana’s frontman, 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 much more abrasive third studio album In Utero, considered to be a conscious attempt to shed their audience. While Nirvana’s mainstream popularity waned in the months following its release, their core audience cherished the band’s dark interior, particularly after their 1993 performance on MTV Unplugged with the Meat Puppets, a band that Cobain had always idolised, performing with them the songs Oh, Me, Plateau and Lake Of Fire. It was later released and topped the charts in 1994.
Nirvana’s brief run ended with the suicide of Cobain in 1994, but the band’s popularity expanded in the years that followed. Eight years after Cobain’s death, “You Know You’re Right”, an unfinished demo that the band recorded two months prior to Cobain’s death, topped radio playlists around the world. Since their debut, the band has sold more than fifty million albums worldwide, including more than ten million copies of Nevermind in the US alone. Nirvana remains a consistent presence on radio stations worldwide.
In 2004, the box set “With the Lights Out”, a collection of radio sessions, home demos, studio demos and outtakes, was released. A year later, “Sliver: The Best of the Box” was released, a compilation of selected “WTLO” tracks, but with 3 new tracks including a track from the famous “Fecal Matter” demo.
