20 Behind-The-Scenes Stories From Nirvana’s Journey

Let’s face it—some bands just hit differently. Nirvana wasn’t polished or chasing fame. That’s exactly why everything about them worked. They came in loud and didn’t stay long, but still managed to shift the entire sound of a decade. If you think you know their story, these lesser-known moments might surprise you.

Working As A Janitor After Dropping Out

Kurt Cobain dropped out of Weatherwax High School, only to return shortly afterwards as a janitor. The irony of cleaning the same halls he once walked as a student didn’t go unnoticed. That detail later echoed when a dancing janitor appeared in the Smells Like Teen Spirit video.

Covering A Dutch Song For Their First Single

Nirvana’s first official release wasn’t their own song. It was a cover of Love Buzz by Shocking Blue, the same band behind Venus. Issued as a limited 1,000-copy run, it didn’t chart but gave listeners a raw preview of the band’s sound before the world caught on.

Rotating Through Drummers Before Finding Dave

Finding the right drummer took time. Nirvana cycled through at least five, including Chad Channing and Dale Crover, before Dave Grohl joined in 1990. His aggressive yet precise drumming gave the band its backbone. When Nevermind broke, it was Grohl’s energy that helped shape their sound into something exceptional.

Funding Their Debut With Pocket Change

Bleach, the band’s debut album, was recorded for exactly $606, partly covered by guitarist Jason Everman. Even though Jason didn’t actually play on the record, he was credited for covering the cost. The album’s shoestring budget reflected the group’s early DIY spirit, long before labels or arenas entered the picture.

Naming A Song After A Deodorant

The phrase Smells Like Teen Spirit came from a joke by Kathleen Hanna, who spray-painted it on Kurt’s wall. He thought it sounded like a rebellion slogan. Only later did he learn it referenced Teen Spirit, a deodorant brand worn by his then-girlfriend, Tobi Vail. The line stuck and history followed.

Borrowing The Quiet-Loud Formula From The Pixies

Kurt often said the band tried to copy the Pixies’ dynamic style. Smells Like Teen Spirit followed their quiet-verse, loud-chorus blueprint. Listeners also noted it resembled Boston’s More Than a Feeling. Kurt joked that the similarity bordered on parody, but it turned into one of the biggest songs of the decade.

Seeing Himself On MTV For The First Time

When the Smells Like Teen Spirit video aired on MTV’s 120 Minutes, Kurt was in a New York hotel. After watching it, he called his mother and said, “That’s me.” It was one of those moments where the underground crossed into mainstream culture, and suddenly everyone knew Nirvana’s name.

Hesitating To Release Come As You Are

Kurt had doubts about releasing Come as You Are because it echoed Killing Joke’s 1984 song Eighties. While no lawsuit followed, the similarity was widely discussed. Years later, Dave Grohl played drums on a Killing Joke album, bringing some unexpected closure to a situation that had once made the band uneasy.

Shooting An Earlier Version Of In Bloom

Before the polished 1992 video most fans remember, In Bloom had an earlier version filmed in New York in 1990. It featured the band performing in gritty downtown spaces and small clubs. This original take, made while they were still with Sub Pop, captured Nirvana’s raw edge before their breakthrough.

Scrapping Plans For An Animated Lithium Video

Kurt once pitched a surreal cartoon idea for Lithium, featuring a girl named Prego and hatching eggs. The animation would’ve taken months, so it was shelved. Instead, they used frenzied live clips to match the song’s mood, which swings from calm to chaos. The final cut reflected the track’s unpredictable tension.

Agreeing To Double-Track Like John Lennon

Producer Butch Vig struggled to convince Kurt to double-track his vocals. It felt too refined for a punk band. But when Vig pointed out that John Lennon had done it, Kurt agreed. The result was a fuller vocal sound on Nevermind that still preserved the rawness Nirvana never wanted to lose.

Writing Love Songs That Weren’t Really Love Songs

Several Nevermind songs, including Drain You and Lounge Act, were about Kurt’s ex, Tobi Vail. He once mentioned that he avoided playing Lounge Act around his wife, Courtney Love. The lyrics never name names, but the emotional weight of that relationship left fingerprints on the album’s most personal moments.

Turning A Dark Headline Into Polly

Polly was based on a disturbing 1987 news story about a girl who escaped abduction. Kurt wrote the song from her point of view to emphasize her quiet resilience. It became one of Nirvana’s earliest acoustic tracks. Bob Dylan reportedly heard it and remarked that Kurt had real emotional depth.

Getting Kicked Out Of Their Own Album Party

At the Nevermind release party, Kurt started a food fight by flinging ranch dressing. Security tossed the band out. The chaos continued at a friend’s place, where Kurt emptied a fire extinguisher indoors and later microwaved a gold plaque. It was their big night—and they treated it like any other.

Saying Yes To Weird Al Backstage At SNL

When Nirvana appeared on SNL in 1992, they got a backstage call from Weird Al Yankovic, who wanted to parody Smells Like Teen Spirit. The band said yes without hesitation. To them, Al’s interest meant they’d arrived. If Weird Al cared enough to spoof you, you weren’t underground anymore.

Dropping A Darker Title For In Utero

Kurt originally proposed I Hate Myself and I Want to Die as the title for their next album. Krist Novoselic thought it would be taken literally. They landed on In Utero instead, preserving the discomfort and raw emotion without inviting controversy over a phrase Kurt had meant as dark sarcasm.

Channeling The Beatles In All Apologies

The early 1991 version of All Apologies had a breezy, Beatles-like feel in its rhythm and melody. Kurt’s admiration for John Lennon showed up in subtle ways. By the time it appeared on In Utero, the song had grown darker and more layered, less pop and far more haunting.

Turning Dave’s Riff Into Scentless Apprentice

Scentless Apprentice was one of the few Nirvana tracks with shared writing credit between Dave, Krist, and Kurt. Dave brought in the main riff, inspired by the novel Perfume. At first, Kurt wasn’t into it, but the band built it out together. It became one of their noisiest, fiercest recordings.

Bending The Truth About Lead Belly’s Guitar

At the MTV Unplugged show, Kurt claimed someone offered him Lead Belly’s guitar for $500,000. The real asking price was closer to $150,000. He later joked about getting David Geffen to buy it. Even if exaggerated, the story captured Kurt’s reverence for music history and bone-dry humor.

Releasing One Last Song Long After Kurt’s Death

You Know You’re Right was recorded in early 1994 but held back after Kurt’s death due to legal disputes. It finally came out in 2002, topping charts and reminding fans what Nirvana still had left. Even in one last track, their sound hit harder than most hits of that time.