“Don’t tell me how to make a record. I was in Nirvana. I was in the greatest rock and roll band of the ’90s. We changed the course of rock music. … Give me a carton of Marlboros. Fuck you, man, I was in Nirvana, you asshole. I’m on RCA, dammit. Don’t you know who I am? I’m a millionaire.”
–Dave Grohl of Nirvana (and Foo Fighters, and Queens of the Stone Age, and Them Crooked Vultures, and Mondo Generator, and Sound City Players, and Backbeat Band, and Scream).
Archive for Nirvana
Happy Birthday, Dave Grohl!
Posted in Comedy with tags Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters, Mondo Generator, Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Scream, Sound City Players, Them Crooked Vultures on 01/14/2026 by Kurt OrzeckPorch Coffin Frontman and Bad Penny Geek Out Over Nirvana, From the Hits to the Rarities
Posted in Interviews, Videos with tags Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, Porch Coffin on 12/22/2025 by Kurt OrzeckAt a memorial ceremony for Kurt Cobain held April 12, 1994, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic delivered a brief eulogy that continues to resonate with great potency today.
“No band is special, no player royalty. But if you’ve got a guitar and a lot of soul, just bang something out and mean it. You’re the superstar,” he said. “Heck, use your guitar as a drum, just catch the groove and let it flow out of your heart.”
Not too many years after that, a kid named Evan Blaine in Daytona, Florida, was given his first CD, Nirvana’s In Utero, from his brother. Some of the songs were already familiar to him, as Blaine’s brother and father used a guitar tablature book to learn how to play tunes from Nirvana Unplugged in the family living room.
Continue readingThe 20 Best ’90s American Grunge Bands of All Time
Posted in Lists, Videos with tags Alice in Chains, grunge, Mark Lanegan, Melvins, Mudhoney, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Sub Pop on 12/20/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
Nirvana’s 10 Best Videos, Ranked
Posted in Lists, Videos with tags Nirvana on 09/20/2025 by Kurt OrzeckLabyrinth: The History Of Nirvana
Posted in Fun And Games with tags Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain, Nirvana on 02/24/2025 by Kurt Orzeck
If you enjoyed the Jesus Lizard labyrinth we brought you a few light years ago, crack yer knuckles and get to work on this new puzzle revolving around their fallen friends, Nirvana.
Continue readingNirvana’s ‘In Utero’: The Heart-Shaped Album That Married Mainstream and Indie Rock
Posted in Essays with tags Dave Grohl, Kurt Cobain, Nirvana, Steve Albini on 11/09/2023 by Kurt Orzeck
With Nirvana’s In Utero celebrating its 30-year anniversary, check out my argument — itself three decades in the making — on why the band’s best record changed rock music forever. Read the treatise, accompanied by Anton Corbijn photos, on FLOOD.
Getting To Know Mark Lanegan
Posted in Interviews with tags Afghan Whigs, Greg Dulli, Johnny Cash, Josh Homme, June Carter Cash, Kurt Cobain, Mark Lanegan, Nick Oliveri, Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Queens of the Stone Age, the Screaming Trees, Twilight Singers on 02/22/2022 by Kurt Orzeck
Mark Lanegan wears all 40 years of his life on his face. His skin, once puffed in that Tom Waits sort of way, is now ironed out into a smooth sheet. His thin amber eyes pierce his surroundings with a devastating gravity. Even his thick maroon mane, which spikes out beneath a nondescript black hat, seems to be spun by the hands of time, hammered by hard living.
Revising History: Mike Watt On John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sun Ra, More
Posted in Features, Revising History with tags Albert Ayler, Anna Waronker, Banyan, Bob Lee, Carla Bozulich, Cibo Matto, Ciccone Youth, Cris Kirkwood, Curt Kirkwood, Dave Grohl, Dos, Dougie Bowne, Eddie Vedder, Evan Dando, Firehose, Floored by Four, Foo Fighters, Hellride, Hellride East, Hovercraft, Iggy Pop, J Mascis, J Mascis and the Fog, John Coltrane, Krist Novoselic, Les McCann, Mike Watt, Miles Davis, Minutemen, Missingmen, Nels Cline, Nirvana, Petra Haden, Porno for Pyros, Rachel Haden, Roland Kirk, Sun Ra, the Stooges, the Unknown Instructors, Thelonious Monk, Wilco, Yuka Honda on 10/08/2010 by Kurt Orzeck
Now this is quite the honor: Mike Watt, one of the most respected musicians ever to lurk in the underground, has anted up – all jazz-style – for the second installment in the Bad Penny’s brand-new series, Revising History. Continue reading
Revising History: Kathryn Williams On Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter, Björk’s Homogenic, More
Posted in Features, Revising History with tags Björk, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Gillian Welch, John Martyn, Joni Mitchell, Kathryn Williams, Laura Veirs, Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, Nirvana, Palace, Palace Brothers, Pavement, the Velvet Underground, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Will Oldham on 10/06/2010 by Kurt Orzeck
On her 2004 covers album, Relations, revered British singer/songwriter Kathryn Williams breathed new life into classics such as Nirvana’s “All Apologies,” the Velvet Underground’s “Candy Says” and Pavement’s “Spit on a Stranger.” In commemoration of the release finally reaching U.S. shores on Tuesday (via One Little Indian), the Bad Penny asked the Mercury Prize nominee to christen a new feature: Revising History. Continue reading
Red House Painters’ Mark Kozelek: ‘There’s A Bad Feeling That Comes With Playing Solo Too Much’
Posted in Interview Transcripts, Interviews with tags Cameron Crowe, Codeine, Low, Mark Kozelek, Nirvana, Red House Painters on 10/04/2010 by Kurt Orzeck
With former Red House Painters guitarist Phil Carney recently granting the Bad Penny his first-ever interview (and an MP3 premiere), the time seems right to resurrect my long-lost conversation with Mark Kozelek. Conducted August 14, 2001, it is surfacing online for the first time. And, because interview with the indie demigod are hard to come by, the full piece is presented here – all 4,900-plus words, warts and all. Continue reading
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