Grunge

Grunge was a genre of rock music that emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Seattle, Washington, USA. It took influences from punk, heavy metal, and indie rock and had a raw sound with a lot of guitar distortion. The song lyrics were often about disenchantment with life, social alienation, and a desire for freedom. At the beginning of the 1990s grunge bands like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana and Pearl Jam began to have mainstream success. Nirvana’s album Nevermind (released September 1991), in particular the single Smells Like Teen Spirit, was a massive success and helped popularize grunge in the USA and internationally with a reported 30 million copies sold worldwide. Pearl Jam’s album Ten (released August 1991) reached number two in the American Billboard chart. Live performances by grunge bands were full of energy, relying on the band and the music rather than light shows and special effects. Grunge music also led to the fashion style of the same name, influenced by the unkempt look of performers like Kurt Cobain (singer and guitarist in Nirvana) and grunge fans who wore casual, scruffy outdoor clothing such as flannel shirts and combat boots.