The Bad Penny (beta)

When Nirvana signed to a major label in 1990, they had already established a strong fan base in their hometown of Seattle thanks to the underground success of Bleach, their debut album. But even though the band was just a trio, the consistency of its lineup was tested by a Spinal Tap-esque rotating cast of drummers (the last of which was Dave Grohl). When Nirvana inked a deal with the David Geffen-owned DGC Records, they also faced skepticism from a fan base suspect of artists tied to corporate entities. Whether deliberate or not, Kurt Cobain successfully diffused those concerns while simultaneously strengthening his three-piece by tapping Grohl, a drummer who had already established his punk-rock bona fides by the time he joined the band in his early 20s. Read my full feature on the topic courtesy of Collider.

This entry was posted on 05/08/2026 at 5:56 am and is filed under Essays, Features with tags Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters, Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain, Lemmy, Nirvana, Scream. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.