99 Fun Facts About Nirvana

In which Washington town was Nirvana formed in 1987?

Aberdeen, a logging town a hundred miles from Seattle, was home to both Cobain and Novoselic; since 2005 a roadside sign has welcomed drivers into town with 'Come As You Are'.

Which of these names did Nirvana perform under in 1987, before settling on their own?

Skid Row was one of several early names; Cobain's own flyer for their first show as Nirvana, in March 1988, still listed Skid Row, Ted Ed Fred, Pen Cap Chew and Bliss.

The demo tape Cobain gave Novoselic that eventually got the band started was from which earlier project?

Fecal Matter was Cobain's short-lived 1985 project with the Melvins' drummer; Novoselic let the tape sit for a long while before finally listening and agreeing to form a band.

Nirvana's first single, issued by Sub Pop in 1988, was a cover of which Shocking Blue song?

Love Buzz was bassist Krist Novoselic's discovery, and it launched Sub Pop's Singles Club in an edition of 1,000 hand-numbered copies.

According to the album sleeve, how much did it cost to record Nirvana's 1989 debut Bleach?

About $600: the sleeve lists the recording bill as $606.17. Bleach sold a modest 40,000 copies at first, then went platinum once Nevermind sent new fans back to it.

Cobain wrote 'About a Girl', from Bleach, after listening over and over to which album?

Meet the Beatles! was on repeat before he wrote it; Cobain, who called John Lennon his idol, was nervous about putting such an obvious pop tune on a grunge record.

Which Melvins member introduced Cobain and Novoselic to drummer Dave Grohl in September 1990?

Buzz Osborne had taken the pair to see Grohl's band Scream; when Scream fell apart mid-tour, Grohl phoned Osborne for advice and was pointed towards Nirvana.

Who drummed on most of Nirvana's Bleach, before Dave Grohl joined?

Chad Channing got a public thank-you at the 2014 Hall of Fame induction, where Dave Grohl told the crowd that the drum part of 'In Bloom' was really Channing's.

Who produced Nevermind?

Butch Vig talked a reluctant Cobain into double-tracking his vocals by pointing out that John Lennon had done it.

Which working title did Cobain give Nevermind as a joke about the conformity of its likely buyers?

Sheep gave way to Nevermind as recording ended; Cobain liked the new title partly because it is grammatically wrong, since 'never mind' should be two words.

The Nevermind cover shows a baby swimming toward what?

A dollar bill on a fishhook was added afterwards: Kirk Weddle photographed four-month-old Spencer Elden underwater, and the banknote was shot separately in New York.

Whose album did Nevermind knock off the top of the Billboard 200 in January 1992?

Michael Jackson's Dangerous was dethroned by an album whose own label had doubted it would sell more than 250,000 copies.

The title 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' came from graffiti by Kathleen Hanna of which band?

Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna wrote 'Kurt smells like Teen Spirit' on his wall in marker after joking about the deodorant in a grocery store; Cobain had no idea it was a brand.

Cobain called 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' an 'ultimate pop song' attempt inspired by which band's loud-quiet dynamics?

The Pixies were his model: 'I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies,' Cobain admitted, adding that he should have been in the band, or at least in a Pixies cover band.

The 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' video is set at what kind of event?

A high school pep rally, though the 'students' were fans recruited by flyer; after hours on the bleachers they were let loose for the finale and really did wreck the set.

Nirvana teased which 1970s hit before 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' over similar riffs?

More Than a Feeling is the Boston hit many heard in the riff; Cobain called his own riff clichéd and 'so close to a Boston riff', and Boston's Tom Scholz took it as a compliment.

The riff of 'Come as You Are' drew lawsuit rumours over its resemblance to 'Eighties' by which band?

Killing Joke did complain about the likeness, just as Cobain had feared when the song was picked as a single; yet in 2003 Dave Grohl drummed on a Killing Joke album.

Weird Al Yankovic's parody 'Smells Like Nirvana' pokes fun at what about the original song?

Its garbled lyrics: Yankovic told Cobain the parody was about how nobody could understand his words. Cobain agreed at once and later said he knew he had made it when he heard it.

Nirvana headlined the closing night of which English festival in 1992?

Reading's crowd watched Cobain mock the rumours about his health: he was wheeled on stage in a hospital gown, sang a line of 'The Rose' and mock-collapsed before the set.

The December 1992 release Incesticide was what kind of album?

A compilation of rarities: B-sides, demos, outtakes and BBC radio sessions, which Geffen paid Sub Pop a six-figure sum to put out in time for Christmas 1992.

Who recorded In Utero, chosen for his 'natural' style without studio trickery?

Steve Albini cut the album in a two-week session in rural Minnesota, then spent months trading barbs in the press with the band's label over whether the results were listenable.

What was Cobain's first choice of title for the album that became In Utero?

I Hate Myself and I Want to Die was 'nothing more than a joke', Cobain told Rolling Stone, but he feared people would take it seriously; the phrase survived as the name of an outtake.

Which R.E.M. producer was brought in to remix 'Heart-Shaped Box' and 'All Apologies' for radio?

Scott Litt gave the two singles a more radio-friendly polish; Cobain said the band found the vocals too quiet and the bass inaudible in the original mixes.

Which Scottish band's 'Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam' did Nirvana retitle and cover on MTV Unplugged?

The Vaselines owed their second life to Nirvana, who covered three of their songs; at Cobain's urging the duo even re-formed for one night to open for Nirvana in Edinburgh in 1990.

Who directed Nirvana's 'Heart-Shaped Box' video?

Anton Corbijn, the Dutch photographer who shot U2's Joshua Tree sleeve, directed it; the single was kept out of US shops to protect album sales, yet still topped the Modern Rock chart.

Which flowers did Kurt Cobain ask for, along with black candles, to decorate Nirvana's MTV Unplugged stage?

Stargazer lilies and black candles were Cobain's own request; asked what mood he was after, he told the show's producer he wanted the stage to look like a funeral.

Nirvana closed Unplugged with 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night', modelled on which bluesman's version?

Lead Belly's version was familiar ground: Cobain and Novoselic had both played on Mark Lanegan's cover of the song for his 1990 album The Winding Sheet.

Which David Bowie song did Nirvana cover on MTV Unplugged?

The Man Who Sold the World delighted its writer: Bowie said he was 'simply blown away' to learn Cobain liked his work. In 2016 Grohl and Novoselic played it with Beck in tribute to him.

Which band's Kirkwood brothers joined Nirvana on stage at the Unplugged taping?

Meat Puppets were Nirvana's tourmates, and three of the night's six covers were their songs; MTV had hoped for a bigger-name guest such as Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.

MTV Unplugged in New York won Nirvana their only competitive Grammy, in which category?

Best Alternative Music Performance went to a set that had made MTV executives nervous: Nirvana played six covers and left out their biggest hit.

Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love married in February 1992 in which location?

Waikiki Beach, Hawaii, hosted the wedding days after Nirvana's Pacific tour ended: Love wore a dress once owned by actress Frances Farmer, and Cobain got married in his pyjamas.

Which 2015 documentary about Kurt Cobain drew on his home recordings, journals and artwork?

Montage of Heck was the first documentary made with his family's cooperation, with daughter Frances Bean Cobain as executive producer; its title comes from a sound collage Cobain taped in the 1980s.

Which Fender model, in Lake Placid Blue, did Cobain play in the 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' video?

Mustang guitars were Cobain's declared favourite, and he later designed his own Jaguar-Mustang hybrid for Fender, the Jag-Stang.

Kurt Cobain joined the 27 Club alongside which rock star?

Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison are the so-called club's other famous names, all dead at 27; as news of Cobain's death broke, his mother said, 'Now he's gone and joined that stupid club.'

The last song Nirvana recorded, released in 2002 on a best-of compilation, is called what?

You Know You're Right went unreleased for eight years, held up at the end by a lawsuit in which Courtney Love argued it would be wasted on a box set and belonged on a hits collection.

Dave Grohl was born in Warren, Ohio, but grew up in which state?

Virginia: Grohl grew up in Springfield, near Washington, D.C., and joined the punk band Scream at 17; his Ohio birthplace has since named an alley after him.

Which instrument did bassist Krist Novoselic switch to for one song of Nirvana's MTV Unplugged set?

Accordion: Novoselic played one on 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam' while Dave Grohl took over the bass, and he brought it out again in 2011 for a Foo Fighters album.

Who sang 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' with Nirvana's surviving members at their 2014 Hall of Fame induction?

Joan Jett fronted the band for it, and every guest singer that night was a woman: St. Vincent and Lorde also took a song each.

Which fellow frontman gave the speech inducting Nirvana into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014?

Michael Stipe of R.E.M. was a friend of Cobain and is godfather to his daughter, Frances Bean; after Cobain's death R.E.M. recorded 'Let Me In' as a tribute to him.

Nevermind is often credited with ending the popularity of which genre?

Hair metal was the sound Rolling Stone said Nevermind blew 'off the map', though veterans of the scene such as Twisted Sister's Dee Snider insist it was already in decline.

Which hidden track was accidentally left off the first pressings of Nevermind?

Endless, Nameless grew out of a botched take of 'Lithium' that ended in a guitar-smashing tantrum; the noise jam was meant to ambush listeners minutes after the album seemed to end.

Nirvana were sued over their name by a band from which country and settled out of court?

Britain's Nirvana, a 1960s London psychedelic act, settled with both bands keeping the name, then recorded a tongue-in-cheek hippy cover of 'Lithium'.

Where did Grohl, Novoselic and Smear play 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' with Post Malone in 2025?

Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary concert came two weeks after the trio's surprise set at the FireAid benefit; Adam Sandler introduced the line-up as 'Post Nirvana'.

In which city did Nirvana play their final concert, on March 1, 1994?

Munich's show, at the city's old Riem airport, went badly: the power cut out mid-song, Cobain's voice was giving out, and the rest of the tour was cancelled.

Which local Seattle producer recorded Nirvana's debut album Bleach?

Jack Endino was still being thanked 25 years on: at Nirvana's Hall of Fame induction, Krist Novoselic saluted him as the man 'who recorded our first record'.

Who paid for Nirvana's Bleach sessions and was credited on the sleeve without playing a note?

Jason Everman soon left Nirvana and then Soundgarden, but his second act was stranger still: he joined the US Army and served with the Rangers and Special Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Which Nevermind song needed a control-room take after full-band attempts failed?

Something in the Way sounded too aggressive in every band take, the producer recalled, so Cobain played it quietly on acoustic guitar to show what he wanted and was miked up on the spot; in 2022 The Batman won it new listeners.

At which Van Nuys studio was Nevermind recorded?

Sound City so impressed Dave Grohl that when the studio shut in 2011 he bought its Neve mixing console and made a 2013 documentary about the place.

Which rock veteran fronted Grohl, Novoselic and Smear at the 2012 Concert for Sandy Relief?

Paul McCartney premiered 'Cut Me Some Slack' with them, a song the four had recorded for a Grohl documentary; Novoselic described it as 'Helter Skelter' meets Nirvana's 'Scentless Apprentice'.

Which band did Dave Grohl start after Nirvana ended, playing nearly every instrument on its 1995 debut?

Foo Fighters began as a solo effort, with the former drummer now singing and playing guitar. Only after the first album was finished did Grohl recruit a full line-up to tour it.

Courtney Love, who married Kurt Cobain in 1992, fronted which band behind the album Live Through This?

Hole released Live Through This just one week after Cobain was found dead. The record, the group's second, was certified platinum in the US the following year.

The Teen Spirit in the title of Nirvana's 1991 breakthrough single was a brand of which product?

Deodorant was the last thing on Kurt Cobain's mind when a friend scrawled the phrase on his wall. He took it for a revolutionary slogan and only learned of the product months after the single came out.

Which rock frontman threatened Kurt Cobain backstage at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards?

Axl Rose lost his temper after Courtney Love jokingly asked him to be godfather to the couple's baby. The two groups' bassists then almost came to blows just before showtime.

How did Kurt Cobain take the stage at an English festival in 1992 to mock rumours about his health?

In a wheelchair, dressed in a hospital gown and wig, Cobain was pushed out by a music journalist. He sang one line, collapsed, lay motionless for a moment, then got up and started the set.

What did Kurt Cobain wear to marry Courtney Love in February 1992, calling a tuxedo too much effort?

Green pajamas were the groom's choice because, he said, he had been too lazy to put on a tux. The bride wore a satin and lace dress that had once belonged to a Hollywood actress.

On which British TV show did Kurt Cobain sing 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' an octave low rather than mime?

Top of the Pops wanted the group to mime to a backing track, so Cobain crooned the whole vocal in a deep voice instead. He later said he had been trying to sound like Morrissey.

Which fashion designer did Nirvana sue in 2018 over clothing that copied the band's smiley-face logo?

Marc Jacobs had put a near-identical face on a collection called Bootleg Redux Grunge. The case ran for years before the designer and the surviving members settled.

What came crashing down on Krist Novoselic at the end of Nirvana's 1992 MTV Video Music Awards set?

His own bass guitar hit him after he tossed it skyward and misjudged the catch. Queen's Brian May ran over to help, though Novoselic later admitted he had faked being knocked out.

What name did Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love give their daughter, born in Los Angeles in August 1992?

Frances Bean owes her middle name to a sonogram on which her father thought she looked like a kidney bean. That scan was later printed on the sleeve of one of the trio's singles.

Which Baz Luhrmann film musical works Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' into a nightclub medley?

Moulin Rouge! needed the blessing of Courtney Love, who approved the use of her late husband's anthem. She had auditioned to play its heroine Satine, a part that went to Nicole Kidman.

Which 2019 superhero film, set in the mid-1990s, features Nirvana's 'Come as You Are' on its soundtrack?

Captain Marvel sent the 1992 single back up the rock charts almost three decades on. Its American downloads jumped 267 percent in the week after the film opened.

Dying at 27 put Kurt Cobain in an unofficial 'club' with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and which member of the Doors?

Jim Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin and Brian Jones all died at that age between 1969 and 1971. The idea of a 27 Club only took hold in popular culture after Cobain's death in 1994.

Which 17-year-old pop star sang 'All Apologies' with Nirvana's surviving members at their Hall of Fame induction?

Lorde, the New Zealander behind Royals, sang the closing song of the set. The evening's three other guest singers, all women, joined her on stage for it.

Which Red Hot Chili Peppers album came out on September 24, 1991, the very day Nirvana released Nevermind?

Blood Sugar Sex Magik, home of Under the Bridge and Give It Away, shared its release date with the Seattle trio's breakthrough. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.

Which retail giant joined Kmart in refusing to stock Nirvana's In Utero until its artwork was toned down?

Walmart only took the album once a cleaned-up edition arrived in March 1994. That version had edited artwork and gave one song a tamer title on the back cover.

In which European capital was Kurt Cobain hospitalised in March 1994 after overdosing on champagne and Rohypnol?

Rome was where Cobain had flown to be treated for bronchitis and severe laryngitis in the middle of a tour. Courtney Love joined him there and found him unconscious the next morning.

Which touring American festival did Nirvana withdraw from headlining in April 1994, citing Kurt Cobain's health?

Lollapalooza had reportedly offered the trio nearly $10 million to headline that summer. The withdrawal came amid reports that the group had split, days before Cobain was found dead.

Which flowers did Kurt Cobain request, alongside black candles, for the stage at Nirvana's MTV Unplugged taping?

Stargazer lilies, black candles and a crystal chandelier were all Cobain's idea for the set. Unusually for the series, the group then filmed all 14 songs in a single take.

Which 2015 documentary about Kurt Cobain takes its title from a tape he made on a four-track recorder?

Montage of Heck was the first documentary about Cobain made with his family's cooperation. His daughter served as a co-executive producer, and his own artwork and home tapes run through it.

Which director's 2005 film Last Days follows a reclusive rock star loosely modelled on Kurt Cobain?

Gus Van Sant wrote, directed, produced and edited the drama himself. He renamed his musician Blake and cast Michael Pitt in the part.

What is the title of Dave Grohl's 2021 memoir, which grew out of posts he shared online during the pandemic?

The Storyteller began as anecdotes Grohl shared on Instagram, including one about being hit with a golf club as a child. Reviewers found it upbeat but sparing on his Nirvana years.

Nirvana's Krist Novoselic, born in Compton, California, is the son of immigrants from which European country?

Croatia shaped his childhood: Croatian was his first language, and in 1980 he was sent to stay with relatives in Zadar. He discovered the Sex Pistols and the Ramones while living there.

Dave Grohl joined Nirvana in 1990 after the break-up of which Washington, D.C. hardcore punk group?

Scream had taken Grohl on as a 17-year-old, after he lied about his age so that he could tour with them. When the group fell apart he moved to Seattle to drum for Cobain.

Which Canadian-born rocker, quoted in Kurt Cobain's final note, wrote a 1994 title track in response to his death?

Neil Young, dubbed the Godfather of Grunge by one critic, added the song to an album he had otherwise finished. He has been reluctant to discuss its inspiration in interviews.

Which Beat Generation writer narrated a short story over Kurt Cobain's noisy guitar on a 1993 collaboration?

William Burroughs recited his tale in a deadpan voice while Cobain, who idolised the novelist, played discordant variations on Silent Night. The pair met at the older man's Kansas home that October.

Kurt Cobain called which Scottish duo, writers of 'Molly's Lips' and 'Son of a Gun', his favourite songwriters?

The Vaselines were barely known outside Scotland during their short career. Nirvana's covers changed that, and one of the pair even joined the trio on stage in 1991.

Nirvana named their debut album Bleach after an AIDS-prevention poster Kurt Cobain spotted in which city?

San Francisco was displaying posters that urged heroin users to disinfect their needles before use. Until the group drove through and Cobain saw one, the working title had been Too Many Humans.

What did Krist Novoselic play in place of his usual instrument on one song at Nirvana's MTV Unplugged taping?

Accordion was his choice for the trio's cover of a Scottish indie song about a sunbeam. He returned to the squeezebox decades later in his own group, Giants in the Trees.

Which rapper's 2013 hit 'Holy Grail', featuring Justin Timberlake, borrows from Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'?

Jay-Z needed permission from Courtney Love before reworking part of the grunge anthem. The borrowing put all three members of the trio on the track's list of writers.

What did designers superimpose on the transparent anatomical figure on the cover of Nirvana's In Utero?

Angel wings turned a medical teaching model into the album's emblem. Winged mannequins of the same figure then stood on stage as props throughout the tour that followed.

Which 2011 family film features a barbershop quartet version of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'?

The Muppets give the grunge anthem to Rowlf, Beaker, Sam Eagle and Link Hogthrob during a telethon. Their unwilling guest, Jack Black, objects loudly to what they are doing to it.

Which Lil Nas X single gave Kurt Cobain a songwriting credit because its chorus echoes Nirvana's 'In Bloom'?

Panini resembled the 1991 melody by accident, Lil Nas X said, since he had not heard the trio's music before recording it. He later thanked Cobain's daughter for letting it stand.

Which 2009 video game upset Nirvana's surviving members by letting a Kurt Cobain avatar sing other artists' songs?

Guitar Hero 5 let players unlock Cobain and use him on any track in the game. Grohl and Novoselic asked for the character to be restricted to the trio's own material.

Nirvana's video for 'In Bloom' sends up which kind of early-1960s television programme, complete with a studio host?

A variety show in the mould of Ed Sullivan's was Cobain's idea after a more ambitious concept fell through. One cut put the trio in suits, another in dresses, and the familiar edit mixes both.

In which Midwestern state did Nirvana record In Utero in two weeks at the rural Pachyderm Studio?

Minnesota's small town of Cannon Falls hosted the sessions in February 1993. The trio paid for them out of their own pocket to keep the record label at arm's length.

Which guitar maker built the 1959 acoustic Kurt Cobain played on MTV Unplugged, auctioned for $6 million in 2020?

Martin's D-18E became, at that sale, the most expensive guitar ever auctioned up to then. The buyer was the founder of Røde Microphones.

Three covers on Nirvana's Incesticide come from a 1990 BBC session recorded for which influential radio DJ?

John Peel's session at the Maida Vale studios in London captured four cover versions in one day. The trio's new drummer had joined only weeks earlier.

In which Wisconsin city did Nirvana record their April 1990 Smart Studios demos, the first sessions for Nevermind?

Madison's Smart Studios sessions were meant to produce the group's next album. Instead, bootleg copies of the tapes went round the music industry and attracted major-label interest.

Nirvana's 1996 live album is named after the muddy banks of which river in Kurt Cobain's hometown?

Wishkah is the river Cobain claimed to have slept beside as a teenager, sheltering under a road bridge. The record gathers concert recordings made between 1989 and 1994.

Which Melvins drummer sat in on Nirvana's ten-song demo of January 1988, before the band had a permanent drummer?

Dale Crover's playing survives on the debut album: three songs from that demo were remixed for it after attempts to re-record them fell short. He also filled in on a 1990 West Coast tour.

Which veteran Californian punk band did Nirvana's Krist Novoselic join in 2006, staying for three years?

Flipper's slowed-down, heavily distorted punk is considered an inspiration for both the Melvins and Nirvana. Novoselic signed on for a European tour and stayed until 2009.

Which 1993 Nirvana B-side was written and sung by Dave Grohl, who had first released it on a solo cassette?

Marigold was re-recorded with a fuller arrangement near the end of the In Utero sessions. It missed the album but came out on the flip side of the first single.

Which outsider musician's cult following grew after Kurt Cobain kept wearing a T-shirt of his album art?

Daniel Johnston created the frog-like figure on the shirt for his 1983 cassette Hi, How Are You. Cobain had been given it by a music journalist and was photographed in it again and again.

Which Olympia independent label's logo did Kurt Cobain have tattooed on his forearm?

K Records has been putting out independent music since 1982. Cobain reportedly got the tattoo to impress his girlfriend at the time, and a track on Nevermind alludes to it.

Which Seattle open space beside Kurt Cobain's final home has benches covered in fans' graffiti tributes?

Viretta Park draws fans every April 5, the anniversary of his death, and again on his birthday in February. Its benches serve as Seattle's unofficial memorial to him.

Who took the cover photograph for Nirvana's Bleach, having also inspired the song 'About a Girl'?

Tracy Marander was Cobain's girlfriend in Olympia and supported them both by working in a Boeing plant cafeteria. Their arguments over his refusal to get a job fed the song.

Nirvana's 1992 tour EP Hormoaning was released only in Japan and which other country?

Australia got the EP first, on January 27, 1992, timed to the trio's tour there, and Japan followed nine days later. Four of its six songs were cover versions taped for British radio.

Which Ohio new wave band wrote 'Turnaround', covered by Nirvana for a 1990 BBC radio session?

Devo, from Akron, were a teenage favourite of Krist Novoselic, alongside Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Nirvana's version first came out on a 1992 tour EP.

Which single did Nirvana play at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards after teasing a song the network had vetoed?

Lithium followed a few defiant bars of the vetoed song, which Cobain strummed to give the network a scare. The trio went on to collect two awards that evening, including Best New Artist.