Though the notion rankled with Kurt Cobain, who was resolutely punk rock at heart, signing with a major could afford the group the means with which to reach a much larger audience. The only option was to seek a major label that could afford to do so.

If they wanted to leave Sub Pop, Nirvana would have had to buy their contract out. First was the departure of their drummer, Chad Channing, who had played on the demos and was replaced by Dave Grohl. Since recording those songs – which included early versions of Nevermind cuts “Polly,” “Breed,” and “Lithium” – Nirvana had some adjustments to contend with. “They had been driving in the Sub Pop van… so they had been playing shows, and by the time they got into the studio they were in dire need of a shower and a hot meal.” Choosing a label

( Nevermind has sold over 30 million copies worldwide.) “ I go to a baseball game and think about it: ‘Man, everybody at this baseball game has probably seen my little baby penis,’ I feel like I got part of my human rights revoked,” says Elden.“They were pretty scruffy and grungy when they showed up,” Vig recalled of their first meeting. “It’s hard not to get upset when you hear how much money was involved,” he says. It’s pretty difficult-you feel like you’re famous for nothing, but you didn’t really do anything but their album.”įrustrated about never receiving any sort of compensation for Nevermind, Elden recently looked into pursuing legal action against Geffen Records, but was unsuccessful. I just woke up already being a part of this huge project.

“I was trying to reach out to these people. “I got a little upset for a bit,” he says. Even though Elden has recreated the photo shoot a number of times and has a large tattoo that says “Nevermind” on his chest, he says he hasn’t fully come to terms with being on the album’s cover.

Nirvana nevermind cover story