Smells Like An Anniversary! Nirvana's Surprise Success "Nevermind" Turns 25

Twenty Five years ago the second album of grunge band Nirvana was released and the world seemed to lose its mind. Suddenly the flannel-wearing, angst-ridden teens had an outlet for their feelings and it involved loud music with lyrics only a few could understand. Grunge music sparked a change in what was considered mainstream and surprised everyone with its success - especially the record company.

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The success of this album is likely due to the popularity of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the first single released a few weeks before the CD came out. The second single "Come As You Are" ended up doing even better than their first and this caused "Nevermind" to sell out faster than they expected. Even the president of the record company didn't anticipate the success.

"We didn't do anything. It was just one of those 'Get out of the way and duck' records." Geffen president Ed Rosenblatt to the The New York Times

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Nevermind eventually became number one on the Billboard Music charts on January 11, 1992 - knocking out Michael Jackson. It's crazy to think that this album has lasted through generations and still holds up to this day. This was every angsty-teens high school jam - I know this for a fact because it was 100% mine. In honor of this classic albums anniversary, make sure you throw on your best plaid!  

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Want to know what the baby on the iconic cover looks like now? Spencer Elden has talked about what it was like to grow up as the "Nirvana Baby". He is now working as an artist with  Shepard Fairey who is famous for his Obama "Hope" piece.