Nirvana
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99 free Nirvana trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
44 free Nirvana trivia questions with answers. Nirvana existed for seven years, released three studio albums and changed what rock radio sounded like. Along the way they recorded a debut for six hundred dollars, knocked Michael Jackson off number one, took their biggest song's title from a friend's graffiti about deodorant, and turned an MTV Unplugged taping into something Kurt Cobain asked to look 'like a funeral'. This quiz covers the whole run: the Aberdeen origins and the Melvins connection, the early band names, Sub Pop and Bleach, Butch Vig and Nevermind's baby cover, the Teen Spirit video, the Killing Joke riff row, Reading 1992, In Utero with Steve Albini, the Unplugged set-list, the last song they recorded, Weird Al's parody, and what Grohl and Novoselic did next, up to the 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Cobain's death is noted only in passing. Easy questions for anyone who owns Nevermind, hard ones for people who know who Aaron Burckhard was. Every answer was checked against a documented source and the citation sits under each explanation.
30 of 99 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which Washington town was Nirvana formed in 1987?
Aberdeen
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'.
Q 02Which of these names did Nirvana perform under in 1987, before settling on their own?
Skid Row
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.
Q 03The demo tape Cobain gave Novoselic that eventually got the band started was from which earlier project?
Fecal Matter
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.
Q 04Nirvana's first single, issued by Sub Pop in 1988, was a cover of which Shocking Blue song?
Love Buzz
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.
Q 05According to the album sleeve, how much did it cost to record Nirvana's 1989 debut Bleach?
About $600
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.
Q 06Cobain wrote 'About a Girl', from Bleach, after listening over and over to which album?
Meet the Beatles!
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.
Q 07Which Melvins member introduced Cobain and Novoselic to drummer Dave Grohl in September 1990?
Buzz Osborne
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.
Q 08Who drummed on most of Nirvana's Bleach, before Dave Grohl joined?
Chad Channing
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.
Q 09Who produced Nevermind?
Butch Vig
Butch Vig talked a reluctant Cobain into double-tracking his vocals by pointing out that John Lennon had done it.
Q 10Which working title did Cobain give Nevermind as a joke about the conformity of its likely buyers?
Sheep
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.
Q 11The Nevermind cover shows a baby swimming toward what?
A dollar bill on a fishhook
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.
Q 12Whose album did Nevermind knock off the top of the Billboard 200 in January 1992?
Michael Jackson's Dangerous
Michael Jackson's Dangerous was dethroned by an album whose own label had doubted it would sell more than 250,000 copies.
Q 13The title 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' came from graffiti by Kathleen Hanna of which band?
Bikini Kill
Q 21Who recorded In Utero, chosen for his 'natural' style without studio trickery?
Steve Albini
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.
Q 22What was Cobain's first choice of title for the album that became In Utero?
I Hate Myself and I Want to Die
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.
Q 23Which R.E.M. producer was brought in to remix 'Heart-Shaped Box' and 'All Apologies' for radio?
Scott Litt
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.
Q 14Cobain called 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' an 'ultimate pop song' attempt inspired by which band's loud-quiet dynamics?
The Pixies
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.
Q 15The 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' video is set at what kind of event?
A high school pep rally
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.
Q 16Nirvana teased which 1970s hit before 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' over similar riffs?
More Than a Feeling
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.
Q 17The riff of 'Come as You Are' drew lawsuit rumours over its resemblance to 'Eighties' by which band?
Killing Joke
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.
Q 18Weird Al Yankovic's parody 'Smells Like Nirvana' pokes fun at what about the original song?
Its garbled lyrics
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.
Q 19Nirvana headlined the closing night of which English festival in 1992?
Reading
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.
Q 20The December 1992 release Incesticide was what kind of album?
A compilation of rarities
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.
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.
Q 24Which Scottish band's 'Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam' did Nirvana retitle and cover on MTV Unplugged?
The Vaselines
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.
Q 25Who directed Nirvana's 'Heart-Shaped Box' video?
Anton Corbijn
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.
Q 26Which flowers did Kurt Cobain ask for, along with black candles, to decorate Nirvana's MTV Unplugged stage?
Stargazer lilies
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.
Q 27Nirvana closed Unplugged with 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night', modelled on which bluesman's version?
Lead Belly
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.
Q 28Which David Bowie song did Nirvana cover on MTV Unplugged?
The Man Who Sold the World
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.
Q 29Which band's Kirkwood brothers joined Nirvana on stage at the Unplugged taping?
Meat Puppets
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.
Q 30MTV Unplugged in New York won Nirvana their only competitive Grammy, in which category?
Best Alternative Music Performance
Best Alternative Music Performance went to a set that had made MTV executives nervous: Nirvana played six covers and left out their biggest hit.