Nirvana

The insolent opening chords to Nirvana’s 1991 single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” were no mere guitar riff—this was a ticking time bomb, triggering an explosion that instantly changed the face of pop culture and sent shockwaves that are still being felt to this day. The lead-off track to the Seattle-based trio’s second album, Nevermind, didn’t just send the grungy sound of the Pacific Northwest underground crashing into the mainstream, it prompted rock radio stations to flip their formats to alternative almost overnight, turned thrift-store flannel into a must-have fashion accessory, and sent the music industry scouring indie scenes from coast to coast in search of the next leftfield crossover act. It’s a fate few would’ve bet on when the Aberdeen, Washington-formed group dropped their 1989 debut, Bleach, which positioned them as a baby-brother band to grunge kingpins Mudhoney. But amid the corroded jangle of “About a Girl,” singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain betrayed a Lennon-esque melodic sensibility at odds with prevailing DIY-punk orthodoxies. After Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic replaced drummer Chad Channing with Bonham-esque basher Dave Grohl, the group moved from Seattle’s Sub Pop imprint to major label DGC, which released Nevermind, a record that fused ‘60s pop hooks, ‘70s hard-rock heft, ‘80s post-hardcore noise, and eternal teen angst into what would become the definitive sound of the ‘90s. The staggering success of Nevermind, which symbolically knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the Billboard charts in January 1992—turned Cobain into the sort of massively influential figure that could convert suburban kids into socially conscious punks and get obscure artists major record deals by virtue of wearing their t-shirt. But his tumultuous marriage to Hole frontwoman Courtney Love also made him a prime target for the tabloids. That pressure-cooker experience could be felt all over Nevermind’s caustic 1993 follow-up, In Utero, as raw and furious a record that’s ever debuted at No. 1—however, the album also showcased Cobain’s growth as a songwriter on the graceful finale “All Apologies”. That song would prove to be not just the album’s send-off, but his own: In April 1994, Cobain died by suicide at age 27. Of course, an icon of this magnitude never really dies: Nirvana remains a pervasive influence on 21st century indie rock artists like Courtney Barnett and Ty Segall, while Grohl’s Foo Fighters continue to stake out a space for tuneful heavy rock at the top of the charts. But Cobain has also become a towering figure in modern hip-hop, as both a model of non-compromise name-checked by marquee MCs such as Kendrick Lamar and JAY-Z, and a tragic-figure archetype for SoundCloud-bred emo-rappers like Lil Peep and Juice WRLD, who, like their hero, turned their subculture into a pop phenomenon and left this world far too soon.