Nirvana: The Music Lives On
03 October, 2012 7:51 AM
The late 1980’s, early 1990’s, was a major era in the transformation of music, we all know that. But why? Although Nirvana weren’t completely original and not the first to do what they did, people listened. They, above anyone else, had the ability to shock an audience This is what Kurt did, it was what he was born to do, and still, today, the further we get from Kurt’s death, the more bands we can find like Nirvana.
Nirvana didn’t see themselves as anything special, anything to be worshipped. They played music because it was something they liked to do. Nirvana’s success was, as former-drummer Dave Grohl said “something that could’ve happened to anyone”. Nirvana did a lot of phenomenal things in their time, like recording Sub Pop’s most successful album yet, Bleach. Bleach was recorded in 1989 and ended up selling more than 1.7 million copies. We might think nothing makes a bigger impact than an album that sells over 1.7 million copies, but we’re wrong. Nirvana only got bigger and better. Recording their second album, Nevermind, was really what did it for Nirvana. “Nevermind really changed the face of the music industry”, as producer of the album, Butch Vig described it, “it wiped away all the hair bands, all the pop bands — it did away with all that kind of music”. I suppose this album became the album to fulfil Kurt’s promise; to “debase modern music”.
January 11th 1992 was the day that changed everything, brought Nirvana to bigger things. Nevermind became no.1 album in America, beating pop’s biggest name, Michael Jackson. For a young group of rock stars from Seattle to make it to no.1, above Michael Jackson, was an amazing achievement. Nirvana grew bigger and better, and it was when Dave Grohl joined the band that they transformed into rock monsters of the world. Grohl brought a specific style with him that allowed Nirvana, as a band, to produce something greater and more unique.
After the tragic end to Nirvana and their music, the remaining members continued on to do their own things, Dave Grohl being the most successful. Any rockstar who says they don’t look up to Nirvana, or they don’t take inspiration from the way they impacted on the world, is lying! Nirvana, and Kurt himself, have left on imprint on so many rockstars to this day.
“He left such an imprint on me and now I play music for a living. If it wasn’t for Nirvana and that scene, I wouldn’t be doing this”- Ben Kowalewicz
“For me, Nirvana changed the way music was made. They took the bar and broke it in half, and they gave us all permission to express ourselves based on our guts”
- Jared Leto
- Jared Leto
The impact that Nirvana has left on music stars, to this day, will never be forgotten. The amazing thing about Nirvana is that they don’t need to be making music to be influencing people, they’re just there, with everyone, all of the time.
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