Nirvana’s Nevermind album 30 years on: Dave Grohl on making it with Kurt Cobain and how Smells Like Teen Spirit catapulted them to stardom
- Nirvana’s seminal second album Nevermind was released with minimal fanfare on September 24, 1991, and only debuted at No 144 on the Billboard chart
- But the first time they played Smells Like Teen Spirit live, Grohl knew that they were on to something big as ‘the place went bananas’
Many iconic albums are celebrating milestone anniversaries this year, from Adele’s 21, released a decade ago last month, to Carole King’s Tapestry, which turns 50 on Wednesday.
Perhaps of biggest interest to rock fans is Nirvana’s seminal second album Nevermind, which turns 30 this year. Released on September 24, 1991, the album arrived with minimal fanfare: it debuted at No 144 on the Billboard 200 chart but quickly became a word-of-mouth sensation, selling more than 10 million copies in its first eight years, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
Nevermind was preceded by lead single Smells Like Teen Spirit, which peaked at No 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The snarling grunge anthem was co-written by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain, drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic as a nod to US indie icons the Pixies.
They demoed the album in rural Tacoma, Wisconsin, before recording at the legendary Sound City Studios in Los Angeles in May 1991.
“We were kids. I think I was 21 when we were writing that song,” Grohl said. “It was in a rehearsal space that was a converted barn, and we just wanted to go in and work. This was our life at the time: we were just eating and sleeping so we could go back to the rehearsal space and write more songs.”