In celebration of one of Seattle's most influential groups, CIRCUS MAGAZINE gives you the first installment of the comprehensive Nirvana story.


Eeven before their breakthrough single "(Smells Like) Teen Spirit" took on a whole new meaning to so-called gen X'ers, Nirvana knew they would make it big. The band had predicted the high sales figures they would eventually enjoy, and their explosive shows at the time more than cemented their beliefs.

Not even the guitar-splintering, drum-trashing and amp-breaking they incorporated into their act foretold their star power. The evidence of their sheer showmanship was in their impeccable delivery. During an early '90s performance at the 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle, as they would always do, the dirty blonde, hunched guitarist Kurt Cobain sang nervously into the mic as uncomfortably as an aspiring comedian ready to take on his first-ever routine. The overgrown bassist Krist Novoselic bounced up and down to the rhythm like a bulky jack-in-the-box as their drummer Dave Grohl bashed forcefully on the drums as if his life depended on it. This show, though captured on grainy footage (Included in "Hype", last year's released documentary video on Seattle and the grunge movement), couldn't detract from the band's commited demeanor, their passion.

From the rhythmic, rigorous strumming of "(Smells Like) Teen Spirit" to Cobain's mesmerizing cries on "Scentless Apprentince" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", few groups seize at a comparable amount of emotional depth and intensity as the grunge trio Nirvana once had. For millions of ardent fans world-wide, they wre the drawbridge into something new and exciting that no form of 90's mainstream rock - metal, AOR, MOR - could ever approach. It was their stunning chemistry, and even more so despite their differences, that distinguished them from everyone else. As a result, they heralded the alternative revolution, and to a lesser extent, the growing Seattle grunge movement which captivated the music industry worlwide - even after the tragic death of co-founder Cobain in April 1994.

Compared to an average lifetime, the moment they broke in '91 wasn't so long since a young, hyperactive Kurt walked around in his Aberdeen home warbling toons by the Fab Four. His aunt remembers a bubbly, hyperactive Kurt Donald Cobain. "he was singing from the time he was two," Mari Earl told Goldmine. "He would sing Beatles songs like 'Hey Jude.' He would do anything. You could just say, 'Hey Kurt, sing this!' and he would sing it." It was also Aunt Mari, who connected with her nephew because of their mutual love of music, that introduced Kurt to guitar when he was two. His musical upbringing became more enforced when he played drums in his school band, and even more so after receiving his first- ever guitar - a Lindell model - as a 14th birthday present from an uncle. His bright, cheery world collapsed before his eyes as an eight-year-old when his parents divorced - an event that took Cobain to almost the end of his life to forgive his father.