The weekly BBC program Top of the Pops showcased popular talent from 1964 until 2006, and was known for its strict control over production. Artists often lip-synched through their biggest hits in an effort to curb unwanted language or behavior on the air.
Nirvana was scheduled to perform on the show in November 1991, but the rising Seattle grunge stars didn’t appreciate the miming rules. For all that they were becoming commercially successful after the release of Nevermind, the band still held fast to the anti-capitalist ideals of grunge. Some network executives telling them to fake their performance must have felt like an insult.
Eventually, the producers agreed to let Kurt Cobain sing live, but only over a backing track. The instrumentals would be played from the studio recording. This was a strategy Top of the Pops had used with other artists in order to keep them happy while still maintaining some form of control. However, Cobain wasn’t all that pleased, and he later said the band was “uncomfortable” with the rules. But the BBC allowed him to perform on their show, and Kurt Cobain was going to make it everyone’s problem.
How Nirvana Intentionally ‘Sabotaged’ Their ‘Top of the Pops’ Performance
Nirvana performed their biggest hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” on the program, but the energy was immediately way off. Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl made it abundantly clear that they were performing over a backing track. They barely put in the effort to make it look like they were actually using their instruments.
Cobain strums robotically at his guitar before ceasing the charade altogether, while Grohl bangs away at the drums haphazardly. Meanwhile, Novoselic wildly swings his bass guitar around his head and behind his back. The crowd of mostly teenagers is jumping around excitedly anyway. They look for all the world like they’re at a real Nirvana gig.
It’s when Cobain starts singing that things really go downhill. His vocals go into a strange lower range, turning his annunciation into a sort of lazy drawl. Later, Cobain admitted he was imitating The Smiths frontman Morrissey, though many reports claimed he had a cold. In the 2021 BBC documentary When Nirvana Came To Britain, Grohl said that “[Top of the Pops] were just asking for it.”
Despite the Chaos, This Became a Memorable ‘Top of the Pops’ Moment
Nirvana already felt that they didn’t belong on Top of the Pops. “That was reserved for pop bands – we don’t belong there,” said Grohl. Asking them to mime their performance added insult to injury. At one point, Cobain puts the microphone in his mouth, smothering the only live aspect of the song.
In hindsight, many U.K. fans who witnessed the offbeat performance actually thought it was pretty cool. But, for the BBC, Top of the Pops, and Nirvana’s U.K. press, this was a disaster.
“He sang in this ridiculous voice, we were all there with our mouths held open going ‘what the hell is this?’” said Alex Weston, the band’s U.K. tour promoter, to the BBC. “This was their big, big moment—and he completely sabotaged it.”
Still, the odd performance did a bit of the opposite for Nirvana. It earned them new U.K. fans and cemented them in Top of the Pops legend. The chaotic and mythical performance remains one of the program’s most memorable.
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