Artist

Nirvana

Formed in Aberdeen, Washington, 1987 3 studio albums 1 dive so far

Kurt Cobain picked the name because he wanted something gentle. Pretty, even. Not a mean, raunchy punk rock name. The band it ended up attached to was louder and angrier than that, and the gap between the two is most of the story.

Nirvana ran on two constants: Cobain on vocals and guitar, Krist Novoselic on bass. They came up out of Aberdeen, Washington, a logging town with not much to do, and burned through drummers for years before Dave Grohl sat down behind the kit in 1990. That lineup was only months old when it made the record everyone knows.

They left three studio albums. Bleach in 1989, rough and cheap. Nevermind in 1991, the one that broke the door down. In Utero in 1993, the one that pushed back against everything Nevermind became. Three records, six years, and a sound that dragged independent rock out of the basement and onto the radio whether the radio wanted it or not.

Cobain wanted a name that was pretty. He got something heavier. Start anywhere in these three albums and you can hear him pulling in both directions at once.

Worth knowing

The name sounds like a battle cry. Kurt Cobain meant the opposite. He picked Nirvana to be beautiful and gentle, a deliberate turn from the mean, raunchy punk names of the day. The sound that came to stand for a generation's rage was filed under a word for peace.