Biography

Nirvana Timeline:

    • May 16, 1965 - Krist Novoselic is born.
    • January 31, 1967 - Chad Channing is born.
    • February 20, 1967 - Kurt Cobain is born.
    • January 14, 1969 - Dave Grohl is born.
    • Mid-1977 - Kurt enters the fifth grade in school, starts music classes, continues several months on and off switching instruments between guitar & drums.
    • Summer, 1981 - Kurt & Krist meet Buzz Osborne of ‘The Melvins’; Kurt also begins showing an interest in film by recording his own short movies.
    • 1984 - Kurt has an unsuccessful audition while trying to join ‘The Melvins’, he later stated in an interview “I totally botched it. I was so nervous that I forgot all the songs. I just stood there with my guitar and played feedback with a blushed face.”
    • Summer, 1984 - Dave Grohl joins his first band.
    • September 25, 1984 - Buzz Osborne, Matt Lukin, & Kurt Cobain go see ‘Black Flag’ perform live in Seattle, this would be the concert that would strongly influence the bands first album, “Bleach”.
    • Winter, 1985 - Kurt, Greg Hokanson, & Dale Crover record a demo tape (the band was going by the name ‘Fecal Matter’), earlier in the year, the band recorded more material and even performed live supporting ‘The Melvins’.
    • Early, 1986 - Kurt gives Krist one of his ‘Fecal Matter’ demo tapes. Krist listens to the track “Spank Thru” & likes what he hears, accepts the offer of starting a band together.
    • Mid-1986 - Krist & Kurt have trouble finding a band name and where exactly they should be in the band. The two go through several rehearsals with various people, and try out various different band names.  During the rehearsals, Krist and Kurt would switch instruments constantly unable to decide which fits them the best.
    • March, 1987 - Kurt and Krist find a new drummer, Aaron Burckhard, and play their first house party gig in Raymond, WA, still unable to decide on a name.
    • May, 1987 - The band, now going by the name of ‘Skid Row’, perform at the GESCCO in Olympia, WA.  It would be the bands first actual live gig.
    • Winter, 1987 - Aaron leaves the band.
    • January 3, 1988 - After Aaron left the band, they bring in drummer Dale Crover from ‘The Melvins’ to rehearse a few tracks. Rehearals would go on throughout most of January up until the 23rd, this being the date set for Nirvana’s first studio session.
    • January 23, 1988 - Nirvana (going by the name ‘Ted Ed Fred’ at the time) records a 10-song demo with the “Godfather of Grunge,” legendary Seattle producer Jack Endino. Sub Pop co-honcho Jonathan Poneman hears the tape and offers to put out a Nirvana single. The band accepts.  Later that night, the band performs at the Community World Theatre in Tacoma, WA.  This being Dale Crover’s only 1988 live performance with the band.
    • March, 1988 - Dave Foster joins the band on drums.
    • March 19, 1988 - The band plays at the Community World Theatre again, this time, finally deciding on a name. Nirvana.
    • May, 1988 - Dave Foster leaves the band, Chad Channing joins very soon after.
    • June, 1988 - Nirvana heads into Reciprocal Recording Studios for a 2nd time, with Jack Endino being the producer/engineer, Krist (bass), Kurt (vocals/guitar), & Chad Channing (drums) record 12 tracks.  “Love Buzz” & “Big Cheese” from this session were later placed onto the bands first single “Love Buzz”, “Blandest” can also be found on the band’s 2004 boxset, “With The Lights Out”.
    • September, 1988 - The band’s first printed interview is published in “Backlash” magazine.
    • October 30, 1988 Kurt smashes his first guitar.
    • November, 1988 - The band’s first single is released. “Love Buzz/Big Cheese”.
    • December 24-31, 1988 - January 14/24, 1989 - Nirvana records “Bleach”. “Kurt always nailed his vocals. He didn’t ever have to do any trickery. He just did it straight-ahead. He was also a very unconventional guitar player; dissonant, yet melodic too. Some guitar solos would just be crazy. But the vocal melodies were the clincher. It just seemed to work.” - Krist Novoselic.
    • January 1, 1989 - Nirvana signs a contract with ‘Sub Pop’ for one year.
    • February, 1989 - Jason Everman joins the band as the second guitarist. He would later help pay for the band’s first album “Bleach”, and not play a single instrument on the album.
    • June 15, 1989 - “Bleach” is released on Sub Pop. Nirvana embarks on a month-long U.S. tour.
    • July 18, 1989 - Nirvana plays in New York, NY at the Pyramid Club. This would be Jason Everman’s last gig, after a drunken audience member came onto the stage screaming into the microphone, he was thrown off stage. The band would cancel the remaining seven shows.
    • August 26, 1989 - The band (Kurt, Krist & Chad) plays live again in Seattle, and would later make up the cancelled shows.
    • October, 1989 - The band leaves the country for the first time, touring in the UK.
    • December, 1989 - “Blew” EP is released.
    • April, 1990 - Nirvana records at Smart Studios in Madison, WI, this time with producer/engineer Butch Vig. Eight tracks were recorded. “Dive” would later end up on “Incesticide”, “Polly” would see it’s release on “Nevermind”.
    • May 17, 1990 - Chad Channing’s last show with the band.
    • July, 1990 - The last time the band has a session at Reciprocal Recording Studios, the band records “Sliver”, which would later be released on “Incesticide”. They have Mudhoney’s Dan Peters to fill in on drums.
    • August 16, 1990 - Dale Crover takes over on drums for a very short tour until the band finds a permanent drummer.
    • August 25, 1990 - This is the last show with Dale Crover on drums.
    • September 22, 1990 - Dan Peters comes back for one performance only, fills in on drums while the band performs at the Motor Sports International Garage in Seattle, WA. Dave Grohl would be in the audience.
    • September 25, 1990 Dave Grohl, former drummer for Washinton, D.C.’s Scream, joins Nirvana.
    • September, 1990 - “Sliver” single is released.
    • October 11, 1990 - Nirvana plays it’s first live gig with new drummer Dave Grohl.
    • October 21, 1990 - The band records “Molly’s Lips”, “D-7”, “Turnaround”, & “Son of a Gun” in the BBC Studios in London, UK. Three of which would later be released on “Incesticide”.
    • Winter, 1990 - Nirvana looks for another record label.
    • January 1, 1991 - Nirvana (Kurt on guitar/vocals, Krist on bass/guitar, & Dave on drums) heads into the Music Source Studios, they record seven tracks, two would later be re-recorded in a 1993 studio session for “In Utero” (All Apologies, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter) while another two would see a release on the band’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” single (Aneurysm & Even In His Youth).
    • January 1991 - “Molly’s Lips” split-single is released.
    • May, 1991 - Nirvana heads into the Sound City Studios and records “Nevermind”, all tracks from the album (aside from “Polly”) were recorded here.  “Kurt had called me up and said, I’ve got the best drummer in the world! I thought, Yeah, right. I’ve heard that one before. But the first time we went in that rehearsal space and started running through the songs, it was just amazing. Dave was incredibly powerful and dead on the groove. I could tell from the way Kurt and Krist were playing with him that they had definitely kicked their music up another notch, in terms of intensity.” - Butch Vig.
    • Early August, 1991 - The band records their music video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.
    • August, 1991 - Nirvana opens for Sonic Youth on a European festival tour, which includes a landmark performance at the Reading Festival. The tour is documented and released in the film “1991: The Year Punk Broke.”
    • September, 1991 - the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” single is released.
    • September 24, 1991 - “Nevermind” is released.
    • November, 1991 - The band starts a six-week European tour as ‘Nirvanamania’ sweeps the United States. MTV airs “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video constantly; the song is hailed as an anthem for a generation.
    • January 11, 1992 - While the band performs for their fist time on Saturday Night Live, they get word that their album “Nevermind” has hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
    • January, 1992 - The “Hormoaning” EP is released.
    • January/February, 1992 - Nirvana tours Australia, Japan and Hawaii.
    • January, 1992 - The music video for “Come As You Are” is filmed.
    • February, 1992 - After Courtney Love finds out she’s pregnant, the couple (Courtney & Kurt Cobain) decides to get married in Waikiki, Hawaii.
    • March, 1992 - “Come As You Are” single is released.
    • April 7, 1992 - The band heads into the Laundry Room Studios with producer/engineer Barrett Jones. They record four tracks. “Curmudgeon” would see it’s release on the “Lithium” single, while “Oh, The Guilt” would get it’s own single.
    • April, 1992 - Nirvana appears on the cover of Rolling Stone.
    • July 20, 1992 - “Lithium” single is released.
    • July, 1992 - The “Lithium” music video is put together and released.
    • August, 1992 - Kurt & Courtney’s daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, is born.
    • August 30, 1992 - The band performs one of it’s most popular gigs at the Reading Festival. It would later be released on DVD.
    • September, 1992 - The band wins two awards and plays “Lithium” live at the MTV Video Music Awards.
    • November, 1992 - “In Bloom” single is released.
    • November, 1992 - Kurt heads back into the Laundry Room Studios to record a single piece (a ‘Jam’ rather..) that would be for his collaboration with William Burroughs.
    • December 14, 1992 - The band’s compilation album “Incesticide”, a collection of B-sides and rarities, is released.
    • January 19-21, 1993 - The band heads into the BMG Studios in Rio de Janeiro, BR to start on their next album. Eleven tracks get recorded, only one see’s a release on “In Utero” (Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip).
    • February 12-26, 1993 - The band comes back to the states to record the rest of the album’s tracks in the Pachyderm Studios.
    • February, 1993 - “Oh, The Guilt” split-single is released.
    • March, 1993 - The music video for “Sliver” is filmed in Kurt’s garage. The child in the video is Frances Bean Cobain, Kurt’s daughter.
    • April 9, 1993 - Nirvana plays a concert at San Francisco’s Cow Palace to raise awareness of and generate aid for rape survivors in Bosnia-Herzegovina. L7, the Breeders and Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy are also on the bill.
    • July, 1993 - Kurt & William Burroughs “The Priest They Called Him” is released.
    • August, 1993 - “Heart-Shaped Box” single is released.
    • August, 1993 - Pat Smear joins the band as the second guitarist.
    • September 21, 1993 - “In Utero” is released in the United States.
    • September 25, 1993 - The band’s second ‘Saturday Night Live’ performance. This was Pat Smear’s first live gig with his new band.
    • October 18, 1993 - Nirvana starts a three-month tour in North America.
    • November 19, 1993 - Nirvana tapes an all-acoustic show for “MTV Unplugged” at Sony Studios in New York. Cris and Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets sit in on three Meat Puppets songs.
    • December 16, 1993 - MTV airs Nirvana’s “Unplugged” show.
    • December, 1993 - The “All Apologies” single is released.
    • January 7, 1994 - Nirvana plays the Seattle Arena. It will be the band’s last U.S. show.
    • January 28-30, 1994 - Nirvana has their last studio session at the Robert Lang Studios in Seattle, WA. They record several tracks, and several takes, one being “You Know You’re Right”.
    • March, 1994 - The band plays their last show ever.
    • April 8, 1994 - Kurt Cobain is found dead in Seattle.
    • May, 1994 - The “Pennyroyal Tea” single is released and quickly pulled due to a track’s name on the single (I Hate Myself And Want To Die).
    • November 1, 1994 - Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged” performance is released as MTV Unplugged in New York.
    • November 15, 1994 - The remaining band members Krist & Dave put Kurt’s ideas to work. They read over his journal entry for a DVD idea and would release “Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!”.
    • 1995 - Krist Novoselic gets offered to play bass in Dave Grohl’s new band, ‘Foo Fighters’, both former Nirvana members eventually decided it would probably be best not to as some would think they are trying to create the new ‘Nirvana’.  Instead, Dave continues with Foo Fighters and Krist forms his own band, ‘Sweet 75’.
    • December, 1995 - The band’s first boxset is released, “Singles”, featuring the band’s singles from “Nevermind” & “In Utero”.
    • October 1, 1996 - The Nirvana live album, “From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah”, is released, featuring performances from 1989 to 1994.
    • October 8, 2002 - The “You Know You’re Right” single is released.
    • October 29, 2002 - The compilation album “Nirvana” is released. It features the band’s last song recorded together in studio, “You Know You’re Right”.
    • November 23, 2004 - The “With The Lights Out” boxset featuring 3 CDs with over 60 previously unreleased recordings spanning the entire band era and a DVD featuring the bands home movies from their beginnings in Aberdeen all the way to secret recording sessions in Rio is released.
    • March 22, 2005 - “Classic Albums: Nirvana - Nevermind” is released, a documentary over the band’s 1991 album. It includes interviews with Krist, Dave, the album’s producer Butch Vig, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, and others.
    • November 1, 2005 - “Sliver: Best Of The Box” is released. It contains three unreleased tracks.
    • November 7, 2006 - “Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!” makes its DVD debut and is expanded. Originally conceived by Kurt Cobain the year after the release of Nirvana’s “Nevermind”, now expanded to 83 minutes to include several previously unreleased performances.
    • November, 2007 - “MTV Unplugged In New York” gets a DVD release. Nearly 14 years to the day of the filming of Nirvana’s landmark “MTV Unplugged” performance, features the complete, unedited 66-minute concert, rehearsal performances and MTV News interviews with the band and audience members.
    • November 3, 2009 - Ranked #1 in Kerrang Magazine’s “100 Gigs That Shook The World” and voted as “Nirvana’s #1 Greatest Moment” by fans in an NME poll, Nirvana’s historic August 30, 1992 headlining appearance at the UK’s Reading Festival is released titled as “Live At Reading”.
    • November 3, 2009 - Marking the ‘20th Anniversary’ of Nirvana’s debut album, Sub Pop re-issues the Platinum Certified Bleach. It also includes the complete February 9. 1990 show at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon.
    • August 31st, 2010 - Universal releases Nirvana’s second compilation album “Icon”.
    • April, 2011 - ‘Foo Fighters’ album “Wasting Light” is released. Krist Novoselic plays on the album.
    • September, 2011 - The release of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” comes in 20th Anniversary editions, including Super Deluxe featuring a 4-CD/1-DVD set with unreleased material & never before seen Halloween, 1991 Live footage from the Paramount Theatre titled as “Live At The Paramount”.
    • November 25, 2011 - “Nevermind: The Singles” boxset is released. It contains singles only from the album “Nevermind.”
    • July, 2012 - Dave Grohl is awarded World Record breaking 900-lb drumsticks from his hometown of Warren, Ohio. Via: Twitter, Dave would write “To the wonderful city of Warren, from the bottom of my heart I’d like to thank you all so much … For the childhood memories. For my family. For my very own alley. For the world’s largest drumsticks! And for all of your support … But most of all for being such a great community. One that makes me proud to say … I am from Warren, Ohio!”