Nirvana was a rock band credited for popularizing grunge and legitimizing the alternative rock genre. From Aberdeen, Washington, singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic started Nirvana in 1987 and went through a string of different drummers before landing with Dave Grohl in 1990. The band established itself in the Seattle grunge scene with its 1989 debut album Bleach, but found unexpected commercial success with its second album Nevermind, particularly for the single "Smells Like Teen Spirit," released in 1991. The album marked Nirvana's transition from low-key grunge band to the reigning rock band of mainstream music. Cobain's accessible lyrics and the band's timely shifts from quiet to loud created a sound that was both radio-friendly and hard-hitting hitting enough to appease and lead the grunge movement of the early 1990s. The band's 1993 effort In Utero was Nirvana's last album before Cobain was found dead in 1994. Many consider Cobain to be the last real rock star and he is continuously referenced on lists of the greatest voices of all time.
