Grunge Facts

Origins and early development

Grunge emerged during the mid-1980s in the U.S. state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and Olympia. The early movement revolved around the region's underground music scene and the independent record label Sub Pop, with local bands such as Green River, the Melvins, and Mudhoney playing key roles in the genre's development. The style fused elements of punk rock and heavy metal and featured a dirty sludgy sound often resulting from low budgets and unfamiliarity with recording.

Evolution or diversification

By the early 1990s grunge's popularity had spread beyond the Pacific Northwest, with similar sounding bands appearing in California and other parts of the United States and Australia. The genre broke through into the mainstream in the early to mid 1990s led by Nirvana's Nevermind in 1991 and followed by crossover successes including Pearl Jam's Ten, Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger, and Alice in Chains' Dirt. Several factors contributed to grunge's decline in prominence during the mid to late 1990s as many bands broke up or became less visible and key figures such as Nirvana's Kurt Cobain died in 1994.

Cultural or musical significance

The success of major grunge albums boosted the popularity of alternative rock and made grunge a dominant form of hard rock music during the 1990s. Grunge brought introspective and socially conscious lyrical themes into pop culture and influenced later genres such as post grunge while leaving a lasting impact on modern rock music.