On November 18th, 1993, Nirvana did a session with MTV’s “Unplugged”, a running series that brought musicians in to perform some of their greatest hits acoustically. Their performance aired on December 16th, 1993, exactly 22 years ago today.
Nirvana, not surprisingly, decided to use the opportunity to play only a few of their major hits and filled the rest of their set with lesser known originals and covers from groups such as David Bowie, Meat Puppets, The Vaselines, and more. To say that the producers of the show were less than thrilled with these cover choices was an understatement. According to Wiki, they were hoping for more popular names of the time, like Pearl Jam or Tori Amos.
And while the show came out looking pretty damn solid, there were some rather dark undertones that the public didn’t see. For example, frontman Kurt Cobain almost didn’t show up. In fact, the day before he was adamant that it wasn’t going to happen. However, he appeared on set the next day, although he apparently was suffering from drug withdrawals and was quite morose. Additionally, he asked the show’s producer to decorate the stage like a funeral, wanting black candles, lilies, and even a crystal chandelier.
The show ended with a cover of Lead Belly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night”, which has been highlighted for its intensity, its power, and its incredible performances. Cobain refused to do an encore, and rightfully so. Trying to play something after that would only do the performance a disservice.
The CD release, which came out after the suicide of Cobain, has been widely acclaimed and incredibly well received, selling millions of copies and earning a Grammy in 1996.
Let’s take a moment today to celebrate this performance, which was one of the last times that Cobain made a televised appearance.