The Day Nirvana Unplugged

Nirvana released their debut album on indie label Sub Pop in 1989. MTV Unplugged, conceived as an acoustic showcase for musicians, debuted on its namesake cable channel in 1989, with performances from Squeeze, Syd Straw and Elliot Easton. Two years later, Unplugged became a bigger deal, with high profile shows featuring Paul McCartney and LL Cool J. Around the same time in 1991, Nirvana became one of the biggest bands in the world with the release of Nevermind and the angsty anthem "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

From that moment, MTV producers were dead set on getting Nirvana to do an Unplugged show for the network. Kurt Cobain and Co. resisted initially, mostly because they weren't too thrilled with the series. Drummer Dave Grohl remembers: "We'd seen the other Unpluggeds and didn't like many of them, because most bands would treat them like rock shows � play their hits like it was Madison Square Garden except with acoustic guitars."