Nirvana's Nevermind
In honor of Kurt Cobain's birthday, let's take a look back at Nirvana's iconic "Nevermind" with 5 Fun Facts about the album.
5. The album's tentative title, "Sheep"
"Sheep" was a title Kurt Cobain created as an inside joke directed towards the people he expected to buy the album. He even wrote a fake advertisement for it in his journal that read "Because you want to not; because everyone else is." The title's inspiration was also said to be about the band's cynicism towards the public reaction to Operation Desert Storm.
4. Nevermind was added by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry
In 2004, the album was added for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Read more: https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/music/article/Registry-recognizes-Nirvana-s-unique-role-1181885.php
3. Cover Idea and Lawsuit
Cobain conceived the album cover idea while watching a television program on water births then mentioned it to art director Robert Fisher. The cover has since been recognized as one of the most famous album covers in popular music.
However, in August 2021, Spencer Elden, the man who was once the baby on the cover, filed a lawsuit against the band and photographer Kirk Weddle, claiming that the use of his likeness was made without his consent or that of his legal guardians. By December 2023, the court ruled in favor of Elden, reversing the lower court's ruling and allowing the suit to continue.
2. Smells Like Teen Spirit and MTV
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" unexpectedly increased in popularity after the song's video had received a world premiere on MTV's late-night alternative show "120 Minutes", and soon became popular enough for the network to start broadcasting it during the daytime.
1. When Grunge entered mainstream...
This unexpected success of the song propelled Nevermind to the top of several albums charts at the start of 1992, an event often marked as the point when grunge entered the mainstream. "Nevermind" knocked Michael Jackson’s Dangerous off the charts and the album has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. In March 1999, it was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
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