The Story from Nirvana (the band, not the state)

Today, we are going to read the story and accomplishments of the band
Nirvana. We’ll read some about their path in becoming one of the best album selling
bands of all time and one of the shortest career time.

Key Words: record label (gravadora de discos), developed (desenvolveram),

signing (firmando contrato), landmark (marco), sudden success (sucesso súbito), charts
(gráficos, tabelas), acclaimed (aclamado), releases (lançamentos), widow (viúva),
among the greatest (dentre os melhores), eligibility (elegibilidade), unconscious
(inconsciente), rushed (com pressa), prescribed (prescritos), took it’s weight (aplicou
seu peso), self-inflicted (auto-inflingida), wound (ferida), assembling (montagem), filed
a suit (abriu um processo), issued (expedido), go to trial (ir a julgamento), settlement
(acordo), featuring (apresentando)
 THEIR PATH

Nirvana was an American rock band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in

1987. Founded by lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic,
the band had a couple of drummers before Dave Grohl joined in 1990.

Characterized by their punk aesthetic, Nirvana's fusion of pop melodies with

noise, combined with their themes of misery and social alienation, made them greatly
popular during their short career. They dissolved in 1994 after the death of Cobain,
but their music continued to be popular and kept influencing modern rock and roll
culture.

In the late 1980s, Nirvana was established as part of the Seattle grunge
scene, releasing its first album, Bleach, for the independent record label Sub Pop in
1989. They developed a sound that uses dynamic contrasts, between quiet verses and
loud, heavy choruses.

After signing to major label DGC Records in 1991, Nirvana found unexpected
mainstream success with "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the first single from their
second album Nevermind (1991), which was a landmark.

A cultural phenomenon of the 1990s, the album was certified Diamond by the
RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). Nirvana's sudden success
popularized alternative rock and was credited for ending the dominance of hair
metal, while they were also often referenced as the main band of Generation X
(people born from 1965 to 1980).
 Following extensive tours and the 1992 compilation album Incesticide and
EP (Extended Play) Hormoaning, Nirvana released their heavy and less
mainstream third studio album, In Utero (1993).

The album topped both the American and British album charts, and was
widely acclaimed. Nirvana disbanded following Cobain's death in April 1994. Many
releases have been made by Novoselic, Grohl, and Cobain's widow Courtney Love.
The posthumous live album MTV Unplugged in New York (1994) won Best Alternative
Music Performance at the 1996 Grammy Awards.

During their three years as a mainstream band, Nirvana received the

American Music Award, British Award and Grammy Award, as well as seven MTV
Video Music Awards and two NME Awards.

By 2009, they had over 25 million RIAA-certified units and sold over 75
million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time. The
band have achieved ten top 40 hits on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart,
including five No. 1's, and four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200.
 In 2000, VH1 ranked them sixth in its list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock
Artists. In 2004, Rolling Stone name them among the greatest artists of all time.
Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of
eligibility in 2014.

BUT, WHAT HAPPENED TO KURT COBAIN?

In early 1994, Nirvana embarked on a European tour. Nirvana's final concert

took place in Munich, Germany, on March 1. In Rome, on the morning of March 4,
Cobain's wife, Courtney Love, found Cobain unconscious in their hotel room and he
was rushed to the hospital.

Cobain had reacted to a combination of prescribed Rohypnol and alcohol. The

rest of the tour was cancelled. In the following weeks, Cobain's heroin addiction took
it’s weight. Following an intervention, Cobain was convinced to admit himself into
drug rehabilitation.

After less than a week, he left the rehabilitation facility and returned to
Seattle. One week later, on April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead of a self-inflicted
shotgun wound at his home.

THE FOLLOWING YEARS

In August 1994, DGC announced a new album, Verse Chorus Verse, some live
material from Nirvana's career, including its MTV Unplugged performance. However,
Novoselic and Grohl found assembling the material so soon after Cobain's death
emotionally frustrating, and the album was canceled.

In November, DGC released the MTV Unplugged performance as MTV

Unplugged in New York; it debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, and
earned Nirvana a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.
 Grohl founded a new band, Foo Fighters, and Novoselic turned his attention
to political activism. In 1997, Novoselic, Grohl, and Love formed the limited liability
company, Nirvana LLC to reunite all Nirvana-related projects.

However, shortly before the release date, Love filed a suit to dissolve
Nirvana LLC, and an order was issued preventing the release of any new Nirvana
material until the case was resolved.

The day before the case was set to go to trial in October 2002, Love,
Novoselic, and Grohl announced that they had reached a settlement. The next month,
the best-of compilation Nirvana was released, featuring the previously unreleased
track "You Know You're Right", the last song Nirvana recorded before Cobain's
death. It debuted at number three on the Billboard album chart.

The box set, With the Lights Out, was finally released in November 2004.
The release contained early Cobain demos, rehearsal recordings, and live song
recorded among the band's history. An album of selected songs from the box set,
Sliver: The Best of the Box, was released in late 2005.