Nirvana

Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind turned “Smells Like Teen Spirit” into an unexpected global hit and helped bring alternative rock into the mainstream. The record became a cultural phenomenon of the 1990s, earned a thirteen-times-platinum certification in the United States, and is credited with ending hair metal's commercial dominance. Nirvana formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987, founded by singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic.

In the late 1980s, the group became part of the Seattle grunge scene and released its debut album, Bleach, through Sub Pop in 1989. Its early lineup shifted through several drummers, including Chad Channing, before Dave Grohl joined in 1990. The band's records often moved between restrained verses and loud, heavy choruses, combining pop melody, noise, punk energy, and lyrics concerned with abjection and social alienation.

After signing with DGC Records in 1990, Nirvana followed Nevermind with the 1992 compilation Incesticide and the EP Hormoaning, while extensive touring brought the group an audience far beyond the Pacific Northwest. Their third studio album, In Utero, arrived in 1993, topped the album charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and was acclaimed by critics. Nirvana disbanded in April 1994 following Cobain's suicide. That year’s live release, MTV Unplugged in New York, later won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance.

Nirvana sold more than 75 million records worldwide, including 60 million in certified US sales. During its three years as a mainstream act, the band received an American Music Award, a Brit Award, a Grammy Award, seven MTV Video Music Awards, and two NME Awards. It also scored five number-one singles on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart and four number-one albums on the Billboard 200. Rolling Stone placed Nirvana at number 30 on its 2010 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The band entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, its first year of eligibility, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.