Nirvana

Nirvana ([nɪɹˈvɑnə]) is an American grunge band, from Aberdeen, Washington, formed in 1987 by singer-guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic. After Bleach in 1989, their debut studio album produced by the independent label Sub Pop, and a string of drummers, the line-up settled with the arrival of Dave Grohl in October 1990.

The trio signed the following year with the label DGC Records and released their second album, Nevermind, featuring the singles Smells Like Teen Spirit and Come as You Are. Their videos received heavy rotation on the music channel MTV, while the album quickly exceeded sales expectations. In total, it would go on to sell more than thirty million copies, becoming one of the best-selling albums in the world. The band became a target of the tabloid press, owing to Kurt Cobain's turbulent relationship with singer Courtney Love and their heavy use of hard drugs. Under pressure, the band was on the verge of splitting in the summer of 1992 but agreed to take part in the Reading Festival, which would see one of the most accomplished live performances of their career.

Nirvana then withdrew, at the start of the following year, to Pachyderm Studio (Cannon Falls, Minnesota) with Steve Albini and recorded their third album there, aiming to return to a darker, « less commercial » sound than that of Nevermind. After remixing the controversial original mix, In Utero was released in September 1993 and immediately topped the various sales charts, despite receiving no promotion. Now joined on stage by Pat Smear on guitar and Lori Goldston on cello, the band made a mark in mid-November on MTV Unplugged, where they performed several covers, including Where Did You Sleep Last Night by Leadbelly and The Man Who Sold the World by David Bowie. After one last jam session in early 1994, the European tour that followed ended prematurely when Kurt Cobain was hospitalised following a suicide attempt. He went to Los Angeles to undergo rehab but fled soon afterwards, and returned to Seattle, where he took his own life at his home on 5 April 1994.

With just three studio albums, Nirvana's songs offered ballads inspired by the Beatles alongside tracks with more aggressive riffs influenced by the Pixies, Sonic Youth, Black Sabbath and the Melvins, built around varied and often deeply personal themes for Kurt Cobain: his inner turmoil, his heroin addiction, machismo in American society, love, or his own childhood. Though short, the trio's career left an indelible mark on the history of rock, becoming the emblematic figurehead of the grunge movement, popularising alternative rock and paving the way for other bands such as Foo Fighters, The Offspring and Green Day. Nirvana were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. With DGC Records regularly releasing compilations, live albums and new editions of the band's records, Nirvana's overall sales now exceed seventy-five million records worldwide.