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Beck, Nirvana Members Play David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World"

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One of the more memorable songs from Nirvana's early nineties MTV Unplugged performance (and accompanying CD and DVD) is the band's surprise cover of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World."

The performance, with its distinctive fuzz guitar highlights and oddly appealing drum sound, helped introduce Bowie to a younger generation of fans a good 10 years after Let's Dance.

Sunday night at Clive Davis' Grammys pre-party, the surviving members of Nirvana, including Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, were joined by Beck for a an almost-surreal reprise the of performance. This time, it served as a fitting tribute to Bowie, who died of cancer January 10 at age 69.

Below, you can check out Sunday night's performance, as well as Nirvana's original MTV Unplugged performance of the 1970 Bowie track.

Damian Fanelli
Damian Fanelli
Editor-in-Chief, Guitar World

Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.