Nirvana | Guitar World

An engineer has programmed a terrifying all-robot band – watch it nail Nirvana, Metallica and Deep Purple classics

By Matt Owen published 10 January 23

One Hacker Band is assembling the trio of the future, which has so far made light work of Enter Sandman, Smoke on the Water and even AI-generated original material

Nancy Wilson of Heart, Nile Rodgers and Nirvana's Kurt Cobain

Nirvana, Nile Rodgers and Heart’s Nancy and Ann Wilson all honored with 2023 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards

By Matt Parker published 6 January 23

The Recording Academy has announced the list of honorees for this year, and it’s studded with iconic guitar talent

Nirvana during 1992 MTV Video Music Awards - Rehearsals at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California, United States

Krist Novoselic: “The bass got caught in the TV lights – and then boom!”

By Joel McIver published 8 December 22

At the 1992 MTV Awards, Nirvana bassman Krist Novoselic threw his Gibson 25 feet in the air, forgetting it would come down again shortly afterwards

Soldiers from the Indian ASSAM regiment 11th Airborne Division of the US Army perform

Watch soldiers from the US and Indian armies perform Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit

By Matt Parker published 5 December 22

The term 'joint military exercise' takes on new meaning

Aaron Rash's Kurt Cobain The Engine Pedal

A YouTuber has built a pedal to clone Kurt Cobain’s home demo tone

By Matt Parker published 2 December 22

Producer/songwriter Aaron Rash has hand-wired a pedal he calls the Engine

Kurt Cobain’s Boss DS-1 sells for $75,000 – is this the most expensive pedal sold at auction?

By Matt Parker published 16 November 22

The highly personalized distortion pedal recently went for more than Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys Octavia pedal

Kurt Cobain’s stage-smashed 1973 Fender Mustang sells for nearly $500,000 at auction

By Matt Owen published 14 November 22

The sunburst offset was smashed in 1989, and its remains were swapped for a Gibson SG after Cobain's guitar-destroying performance left him without an instrument to play

Kurt Cobain (left), his battered 1973 Fender Mustang

Kurt Cobain-signed 1973 Fender Mustang – which he smashed onstage in 1989 – goes up for auction

By Matt Owen published 2 November 22

The signed guitar was later exchanged for a Gibson SG, after Cobain's guitar-smashing antics left him without a guitar to play for Nirvana's gigs

Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan, Rock Torhout Festival, Torhout, Belgium, 04/07/1992.

Billy Corgan claims Butch Vig stole his guitar sound for Nirvana’s Nevermind

By Matt Parker published 2 November 22

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman says he made the comment directly to the producer on first hearing the record in 1991

Flea (L) and John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers perform during the ACL Music festival 2022 at Zilker Park on October 09, 2022 in Austin, Texas.

Watch Red Hot Chili Peppers cover Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit with John Frusciante on lead vocals

By Michael Astley-Brown last updated 1 November 22

The funk-rockers tackled the grunge classic during a recent show at Flea’s Silverlake Conservatory of Music

James Hetfield, Kurt Cobain and Dimebag Darrell

The greatest guitar albums of the '90s

By Jenna Scaramanga published 8 September 22

From Pearl Jam to Pantera, Metallica to Morello

Dave Grohl (left) and Kurt Cobain perform onstage at the Reading Festival on August 30, 1992

Watch Nirvana's legendary Reading 1992 set in full in remastered 4K

By Jackson Maxwell published 30 August 22

The band's final UK performance – an explosive 25-song set widely regarded as one of the band's greatest – occurred 30 years ago today

Stranger Things’ actor Joseph Quinn (who play Eddie Munson) on his guitar heroes

Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn reveals his personal guitar heroes

By Matt Parker published 19 August 22

The actor behind metalhead Eddie Munson talks about the guitarists who influenced his playing and the steady diet of heavy metal that informed his preparation for the role

Watch Tommy Emmanuel and Mike Dawes’ thrilling acoustic cover of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit

By Jonathan Horsley published 23 June 22

In this GW premiere, the acoustic virtuoso duo combine powers to rework the era-defining grunge anthem, with spectacular results

Kurt Cobain’s Smells Like Teen Spirit Fender Mustang sells at auction for $4.5 million

By Matt Owen last updated 23 May 22

The winning bid from Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay makes the iconic offset the second most expensive guitar sold at auction, overtaking David Gilmour's Black Strat

Kurt Cobain Smells Like Teen Spirit Mustang

Bids on Kurt Cobain’s Smells Like Teen Spirit Fender Mustang have already hit $2 million

By Matt Parker published 11 May 22

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has made a generous early bid to kickstart an auction in aid of his mental health charity Kick the Stigma

3rd Secret: Bubba DuPree, Matt Cameron, Krist Novoselic, Jennifer Johnson, Kim Thayil & Jillian Raye.

Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron launch new supergroup with Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic

By Michael Astley-Brown published 12 April 22

Hear 3rd Secret’s surprise-released debut album – which also features Bubba Dupree, Jennifer Johnson and Jillian Raye – now

Kurt Cobain’s Smells Like Teen Spirit Fender Mustang goes up for auction for the first time

By Matt Owen published 11 April 22

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the guitar – which featured in the iconic 1991 music video – will go towards supporting mental health charity, Kicking The Stigma

Kurt Cobain's final days to be turned into an opera by London's Royal Opera House

By Sam Roche published 7 April 22

Cobain's is “an archetypal story – operas deal well in those”, says ROH composer-in-residence Oliver Leith

Kurt Cobain performs with Nirvana at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, Minnesota on December 10, 1993

Watch Nirvana cover The Cars at their final concert in 1994

By Jackson Maxwell published 1 March 22

On this day in 1994, the band played a scorching 23-song set at Terminal Einz in Munich, Germany – their last concert ever