I remember having this little silver iPod since before I was in elementary school. I fell asleep with headphones in my ears and the music playing from it. 

But only until recently, I realized that it had just about three different artists on it which were The Real Tuesday Weld, The Bastard Fairies, and Nirvana. 

Listening to Plateau and Kurt Cobain is what I can recall most vividly.

Cobain sang words that could mean anything to any person who chose to derive lyrical beauty from his voice; and the way that ‘Come As You Are’ uses a deep guitar melody to set an extraordinary tone to accompany the lyrics could hold a personal message to all that listen.

The legacy of Nirvana, a revolutionary ‘90s grunge band, continues to be an unforgettable music staple in 2022. They began an extraordinary music career that leaves its mark on music history and on culture today. 

Math teacher John Bruno was a teacher at Nimitz Middle School when Nirvana’s classic album, Nevermind, came out. Nevermind was released in the fall of 1991, 31 years ago. This was three years before the death of Nirvana’s lead vocalist, Kurt Cobain.

“I remember their song ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ from their music video and how weird that was,” he said. “It was the beginning of the grunge music genre. It was very different from the music I listened to in the 1980s—it took a while to get used to.”

Nirvana was and still is incredibly influential, and many people believe it has a rightful place in the history of music.

“110% they definitely belong on the high scope,” said math teacher Michelle Fox, an avid music fan. “There are so many artists today that wouldn’t even be musical artists without them paving the ground to the genre they created.”

“I grew up listening to Nirvana because of my uncle,” said sophomore Cindy Luna. “Nirvana really has changed the world in many different ways.”

Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994 affected Nirvana fans tremendously.

“I remember I was really sad and confused,” Fox said.

Bruno said he remembers teaching the day after Cobain’s death and recalling how crushed his students were.

“It was pretty tragic,” he said. 

Even people who were indifferent to Nirvana saw the effect of Kurt Cobain’s death on people who were Nirvana fans.

“It was weird for me,” said history teacher Ed O’Connell. “A friend and I were riding to work and he was crying. It seemed like he was distraught.”

Despite this tragedy, people such as myself who fell asleep to the sounds of Nirvana or Cindy who grew up listening to Nirvana with her uncle still know and love Nirvana as the revolutionary band that they were and still are.