Grunge was the musical revolution that challenged the mentality of American pop culture. It was the much needed change from the high energy hair bands to the slackers America's youth had turned into. Unfortunately Grunge was eventually destroyed by the American media through commercial exploitation. Created in the Seattle area it was a heavy, chaotic sounding musical genre, born in the late 80's making its rise in the early 90's. Grunge mixed punk and 70's rock to create a potent, intoxicating form of new music that captivated the youth of the world. .
The name "Grunge- came from its original meaning, dirty. The sound that Grunge made was dirty, distorted, dark punk rock, that just felt kind of well. grungy. This sound dominated the northwest college circuit during the 80's. It stayed local for a while until the band Nirvana release its album "Nevermind- in 1991. This opened up the flood gates and washed away the music of the previous decade. When "Nevermind- dethroned Michael Jackson from the top of the Billboard charts, it signified a new era for pop culture, and not only in music. Grunge's thrift shop flannel shirts, torn jeans, and combat boots were in sharp contrast to the leather clothing, snake skin boots and makeup of the 80's. Clothing worn by Grunge rockers would soon become music and teen lives dominant look. .
The most famous person of the Grunge movement was Nirvana's front man and cofounder, Kurt Cobain. Kurt was an incredibly talented musician, and most famous for his lyrics. He used verbal hooks and violent stage antics to recruit new fans. However Kurt told reporters he was just "Being myself, you know?- In the extremely popular Nirvana song "Smells like Teen Spirit-, Kurt's line "Here we are now entertain us- became the anthem for the Grunge movement. Other famous Grunge artists that made their mark during the 90's included Nirvana member's Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, along with Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, and Cobain's wife Courtney Love of Hole.
