0:00

Yah Welcome

0:06

to Induction Vault, a production of I

0:09

Heart Radio and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

0:15

M Nirvana

0:29

changed the face of music, busting

0:31

the door wide open for underground bands

0:34

to break out into the mainstream

0:37

r e ms. Michael Stipe inducted the Grunge Trio

0:40

into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He

0:42

summed up their impact with this quote, Nirvana

0:45

defined a moment, a movement

0:47

for outsiders, ever

0:50

the advocates for women. The band

0:52

invited four female powerhouses to

0:54

stand in for the late Kurt Cobain during

0:56

their performance. Guitar

0:58

Goddess Joan Jet, Riot Girl

1:00

Kim Gordon, along with the Evacuative

1:03

State, Vincit and Lord help Nirvana

1:05

blow the moof off the arena with that same

1:07

palpable energy that spoke to and

1:10

for a generation of outcasts.

1:14

YEA, when

1:18

an artist offers an idea,

1:20

a perspective, it helps us

1:22

all to see who we are. It wakes us up,

1:25

and it pushes us forward towards

1:28

our collective and individual

1:30

potential. It makes

1:32

us, each of us able to see

1:34

who we are more clearly. It's progression

1:37

and progressive movement. It is the future

1:40

staring us down in the present and saying,

1:42

come on, let's get on with it here

1:45

we are now, and

1:50

purposely using the word artists rather than

1:52

musician because the band

1:54

Nirvana were artists in every sense

1:57

of the word. It is the highest

1:59

calling for an artist, as

2:01

well as the greatest possible

2:03

privilege, to capture a moment, to

2:06

find the zeitgeist, to

2:08

expose our struggles, our

2:10

aspirations, our desires, to

2:13

embrace and define their

2:15

time. That is my definition of

2:17

an artist. Nirvana captured

2:21

lightning in a bottle, and now I will quote

2:23

Urban Dictionary off the Internet

2:26

in defining lightning in a bottle as capturing

2:28

something powerful and elusive and

2:31

then being able to hold it and show it to the

2:33

world. Kurt Cobain,

2:36

Chris nova Selik, and Dave Grohl

2:38

were Nirvana. The

2:45

potency and the power of their defining

2:48

moment has become for us

2:51

indelible. Like my band r

2:53

M, Nirvana came from a most unlikely

2:55

place, not a cultural city

2:57

center like London, San Francisco, Los

3:00

Angeles, or even New York or Brooklyn, but

3:03

from Aberdeen, Washington, in the Pacific

3:05

Northwest, a largely blue

3:07

collar town just

3:10

outside of Seattle. Chris nova Selik

3:12

said, Nirvana came out of the American

3:15

hardcore scene of the nineteen eighties.

3:17

This was a true underground.

3:20

It was punk rock that the mini bands

3:22

and musical styles were eclectic. We

3:24

were a product of a community of youth

3:27

looking for a connection away from

3:29

the mainstream. The community built

3:31

structures outside of the corporate governmental

3:34

sphere, independent and decentralized

3:37

media connected through the copy machine.

3:40

A decade before the Internet as we know it

3:42

came to be. This was social networking

3:45

with a face. Dave Grohl

3:47

said, we were dropouts making

3:50

minimum wage, listening to Vinyl, emulating

3:53

our heroes, Ian Mackay, Little Richard,

3:55

getting high, sleeping in bands, never

3:57

expecting the world to

4:00

notice.

4:04

Solo artists almost have

4:06

it easier than bands. Bands are not easy.

4:09

You find yourself in a group of people. We

4:12

rub each other the wrong way and exactly

4:14

the right way, and you have chemistry,

4:17

zeitgeist, lightning in a bottle, and

4:20

a collective voice to help pinpoint a

4:22

moment, to understand what it is that we're

4:24

going through. You see, this is about

4:26

community, cross inspiration,

4:29

pushing ourselves. Nirvana tapped into

4:31

a voice that was yearning to be heard

4:34

keep in mind the times. This

4:36

was the late eighties early nineties America.

4:41

The idea of a hopeful democratic country

4:43

had been practically dismantled

4:45

by Iran contra, by aids by

4:47

the Reagan Bush senior administrations.

4:51

But with their music, their attitude, their voice.

4:54

By acknowledging the political machinations

4:56

of petty but broad reaching political

4:58

arguments, movements and position that had held

5:00

us culturally back, Nirvana blasted

5:03

through all that with crystalline nuclear

5:06

rage and fury. Nirvana were kicking

5:08

against the system, bringing complete

5:10

susdain for the music industry and

5:12

their definition of corporate mainstream America

5:15

to show a suite and beautiful

5:17

which fed up fury, coupled

5:19

with howling vulnerability, lyrically

5:22

exposing our frailty, our frustrations

5:24

are shortcomings, singing a retreat

5:26

and acceptance of our triumphs of

5:29

an outsider community with such immense

5:31

possibility, stimied or ignored,

5:34

but not held down or held

5:36

back by the stupidity and political

5:38

pettiness of the times. They spoke truth

5:41

and a lot of people listened. They

5:50

picked up the mant on in that particular battle. But

5:52

they were singular and loud and

5:55

melodic and deeply original, and that

5:57

voice, that voice,

6:00

Kurt, we miss you, I

6:03

miss you. Nirvana

6:06

defined a moment, a movement

6:08

for outsiders, for the fags and the fat

6:10

girls, and the broken toys, and the shy

6:12

nerds and the goth kids from Tennessee

6:15

and Kentucky, for the rockers and the awkward

6:17

and the fed up and the two smart kids

6:19

and the bullied. We were a community,

6:22

a generation, in Nirvana's case, several

6:25

generations, and the echo chamber of

6:27

that collective. How and Ellen Ginsburg

6:29

would have been very proud here. That moment

6:31

and that voice reverberated into music

6:34

and film, into politics, into worldview,

6:36

into poetry, into fashion, into

6:39

art, into spiritualism, and the beginning

6:41

of the Internet, and so many fields,

6:43

in so many ways and in our lives. And this

6:45

is not just pop music.

6:47

This is something much greater than

6:50

that. These

6:55

are a few artists who rubbed

6:58

each other the wrong way and exactly the right

7:00

way at the right time, Nirvana,

7:02

it is my honor to call to the stage

7:04

Chris nov Selik and Dave Bold. After

7:15

the break, we'll hear Nirvana's acceptance

7:17

speeches on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction

7:20

Vault I

7:27

was the quiet one in Nirvana. I

7:32

was the drummer, but

7:35

most of you don't know that I

7:37

was the fifth drummer

7:39

of Nirvana. For

7:41

whatever reason, I

7:44

got to be the luckiest person

7:46

in the world and also be in Nirvana.

7:48

But I have to give credit to

7:51

all of the other drummers that came before

7:53

me. Aaron

7:58

Burkhardt, thank you very much. Dale

8:02

Krover from the Melvin's

8:04

who is my

8:07

absolute drumming hero. Chad

8:11

Shanning, who was the drummer of Nirvana.

8:15

Chad, where are you? I know that you're here somewhere.

8:17

I think you're here. Isn't Chad here somewhere? Where's

8:19

Chad? Chad's around here? Isn't it? Are

8:21

you over there? Chad? Hey? Chad? So

8:25

here's the thing. Guess

8:28

what Chad's responsible for. If

8:30

you listen to a song like in Bloom There

8:32

banan it bock

8:35

cuckoo, that's Chad. When

8:39

I joined the band, I had the honor

8:41

of playing Chad's parts. So, Chad,

8:43

thank you very much for allowing me to play

8:45

your drum parts. I appreciate that very

8:47

very much. Dan

8:50

Peters from mud Huddey, who got

8:53

to play one show with Nirvana. Thank

8:56

you, Danny. But

8:59

there's a lot of bowl that made

9:01

this possible, people that you

9:03

might not know, people that

9:06

I grew up with in Springfield, Virginia. Like

9:08

Michael said, really

9:13

you could afford the train. We

9:18

came from this underground punk rock scene

9:21

where there really were no awards

9:23

or ceremonies or trophies.

9:26

It was all about doing

9:28

it for real, and the reward was

9:31

doing it right and doing it for real

9:33

and sharing the community of music,

9:36

helping other musicians and inspiring

9:39

people. And so I got really lucky

9:41

to grow up in the Washington, d C. Punk

9:44

rock scene where I

9:47

was inspired by all these amazing people.

9:50

Too many the list, but everyone

9:53

from Chris Page to Ralph

9:56

to Dave Smith, to Ruben Ratting,

9:59

to Pete Stall and France

10:01

Stall and Skeeter Thompson, all the people

10:03

that I've ever played music with, Barrett Jones,

10:06

I have to thank all of you, because

10:09

I wouldn't be here. I'm

10:13

also lucky that when we first

10:15

started out, we didn't know anything about

10:17

business. We were in a fucking

10:19

van, you know, buying corner

10:22

dogs from T

10:24

shirts that we had sold, and we

10:26

were lucky that we met a manager named John Silva,

10:29

and we met an accountant named Lee Johnson.

10:32

And I'm happy to say that I've

10:35

never ever strayed from those two people

10:38

in my life. That's

10:41

like twenty five years, John

10:45

Cutcliffe and Michael

10:47

Maisel, And I

10:50

mean, it's a long list of people that I'm gonna forget

10:52

most of them. But most of all,

10:54

I have to thank my family because

10:58

I was lucky enough to grow up in

11:00

a musical family, in an environment

11:03

that encouraged music. Parents

11:06

that never told me not to listen

11:08

to fucking Slayer, you know what I mean.

11:14

I listened to some really really

11:17

fucked up ship, but

11:20

my parents never told me not to because

11:23

I was finding myself. So

11:25

Mom, thanks, thanks

11:34

for letting me drop out of high school. Can't

11:38

stay in school, don't do drugs. It's about a deal. I

11:42

have to thank my beautiful wife, Jordan's and

11:44

my two daughters that I hope

11:47

grow up to inspire people, just like

11:49

every musician I grew up

11:51

inspired by. Because I think

11:53

that's the deal, is that you

11:56

look up to your heroes and

11:59

you shouldn't be intimidated by them,

12:01

you should be inspired by them. Don't

12:03

look at the poster on your wall. And think funk

12:05

I could never do that, look at the poster

12:08

on the wall and say, fuck, I'm gonna

12:10

do that, and then you do

12:12

this. Thank

12:23

you Michael for

12:26

that great induction and

12:28

uh the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

12:33

And I want to thank all the Nirvana

12:35

fans whom Vona

12:41

fans walk up to me every day

12:43

and say thank you for the music and

12:46

when I hear when I hear that, and

12:49

that reminds me of Kurt Cobain, Okay,

12:54

So I want to say thank you Kurt Cobain.

12:57

And I wish Kurt was here tonight, okay.

13:01

And that music means so much to

13:03

so many people, and it's and there's

13:06

new generations and new fans coming

13:08

up, and it's really powerful.

13:10

And Kurt was a was an intense artist

13:13

and uh he really connected with

13:15

a lot of with a lot of people. And

13:18

uh, I want to and when Nirvana

13:21

we did are we started in

13:23

Aberdeen, Washington, in Washington

13:25

State, and uh we

13:28

had an infrastructure there to support us.

13:30

There was a music community. I want to thank Subpop

13:33

Records, um

13:37

the music community in Seattle

13:40

in Washington State. I

13:42

want to thank Buzz Osborne. Thank

13:45

you Buzz for turning

13:47

us onto punk rock music. I

13:50

want to thank Alan Dreyer. Thank you

13:52

Allan for being there when we really needed

13:54

you. I

13:57

want to thank Jack and Dina

14:00

who recorded our first record, Steve

14:05

Albinia

14:09

and Butch Big

14:12

for recording they're taking

14:14

us, recording us twice. Thank

14:17

you Susan Silver for introducing

14:19

us to the music industry properly. And

14:23

thank you all again. I'm

14:36

probably gonna cry. I'm already

14:38

crying because he'd be so proud.

14:41

He'd say it wasn't Betty would

14:43

be. I just missed

14:45

him so much. He

14:47

was such an angel. Thank

14:50

you.

14:51

Yeah, you

14:59

know I have a big speech, but I'm not gonna say

15:01

it. Hi.

15:06

We all start bands when

15:08

we're kids, and this is

15:10

my family I'm looking at right now, all

15:12

of you, Brother, Michael,

15:16

brother Chris, Grandma,

15:19

Wendy, Mr Grohl,

15:23

come on, David and Christmas. That's

15:41

it. I just wish the Curt was here

15:43

to Hugh feel this and

15:46

be this. Twenty years ago the Rock and Hall of

15:48

Fame maybe wasn't, but

15:50

tonight he really would have appreciated it. He

15:52

would appreciate it. Chris and Dave and

15:54

Michael and his mother and his sister's being here,

15:57

and I just want to give this to Francis, our

16:00

daughter, who's not here because she's ill.

16:03

That's it, that's all I have to say. Thank you so very

16:05

much, John and the Committee.

16:24

Thanks for joining us on this week's episode

16:26

of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Vault. For

16:29

more on your favorite inductees, to shop

16:31

inductee merch or to plan your trip to

16:33

the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, visit rock hall

16:35

dot com plus Rock

16:38

and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Special on demand

16:40

on HBO Max. Our

16:43

executive producers are Noel Brown, Shelby

16:45

Morrison, and Esa Gurkey. Supervising

16:48

producer is Taylor Shakogne. Research

16:50

and archival assistants from Isabel Keeper

16:53

and Shannon Herb. Thanks again for joining

16:55

us on this week's episode of Rock and Roll Hall of

16:57

Fame Induction Vault. Induction Vaull

16:59

is a production of I Heart Radio in the Rock

17:01

and Roll Hall of Fame. Yeah.

17:09

For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the

17:11

I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

17:14

or wherever you get your favorite podcasts