Top 5 Grunge Artists of the ‘90s

While Nirvana may seem to have led grunge in the 90s, a couple of other bands were pivotal in defining the genre too. Pop culture goes back to the 90s, and if there's any music style that defined the 90s, it's grunge. The epic Seattle sound took 80s metal off music charts and brought about a new generation that went all the way into pop culture, fashion runways, and radio stations far and wide.

Sadly, even though it had an immediate and raging impact, the commercial success of grunge was relatively short-lived. Nu-metal took grunge's place as the leading force in rock in 1995. Regardless, the impact grunge made on the 90s can't be denied. Here's our pick on the top 5 artists from the grunge era.

Nirvana

Being debatably the best grunge band, Nirvana is often what comes to mind when you think grunge. Nevermind, their second album, released in 1991, flooded the airways with great success, causing the band to become a household name. Nirvana sold over 30 million albums as they rose to stardom. 

As they achieved success on a global scale, Kurt Cobain, their lead singer, began to battle a terrible stomach infection, heroin addiction, and mental illness. This lasted throughout his career. Eventually, he committed suicide in 1994. Regardless, Nirvana's impact on pop culture and the overall music structure of the good ol' '90s was tremendous, and traces can still be seen even now.

Green River

Another notable group behind the advent of the Seattle scene is none other than Green River. Many fans refer to them as the first grunge band, seeing as they released their debut EP in 1985 (Come On Down). They also aided in boosting the indie prestige of Sub Pop labels with their next EP in 1987(Dry As A Bone). Their only full-blown album was released in 1988 (Rehab Doll). However, it didn't do so well commercially. This might have led to their break up soon after.

However, that's not where the story ends. After the group disbanded, a few ex-members in the persons of Stone Gossard, Bruce Fairweather, and Jeff Ament came together to form Mother Love Bone. This was released in 1988. Gossard and Ament performed Pearl Jam and Temple of the Dog, respectively. 

Turns out they won't be the only ex-members to keep on with grunge; Steve Turner and Mark Arm also came together to create Mudhoney, another seminal group from that period.

Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam was formed in 1990, and it is something of a child of Green River and Mother Love Bone, bands that weren't particularly successful but were pivotal in establishing a foundation for grunge. Utilizing radio and hits like "Jeremy," Pearl Jam became fan favorites. Their groundbreaking show at Lollapalooza (1992) aided in cementing their place in the world of music.

Pearl Jam is also one of grunge's longest-lasting bands, as they continued to drop albums long after the grunge rave ended. During their induction into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2020, it was said that Pearl Jam influenced and inspired a lot of bands like The White Stripes, The Strokes, and Puddle of Mudd.

Soundgarden

Soundgarden was formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984. They were one of the earliest groups to release a Sub Pop Records album (the record label that took grunge far and wide). Their EPs reportedly inspired Kurt Cobain to record Bleach (Nirvana's first album) in December 1988 with Sub Pop. Although their early success became deadened by Nirvana's meteoric rise in the early 90s, the group was back in the spotlight due to their album, Superunkown (1994), and more specifically, the single, "Black Hole Son."

Although the band called it quits in 1995 after they released Down on the Upside, they got back together in 2010, and in 2012, they released a final studio album, King Animal. Chris Cornell, the band's frontman, died in 2017. Still, the band's songs are remembered to cause a more guitar riff-centric type of sound within grunge.

Alice in Chains

One of the heavier-sounding grunge bands to ever emerge is Alice in Chains. Their debut album, Facelift, released in 1990, technically came before Nirvana's Nevermind. However, it didn't do as well on the charts as Nirvana's special. Eventually, the group decided to get into other waters, like acoustic music, in 1994. 

As the band got established in the success of the '90s, issues began to rise; Stanley, a band member, had problems with substance abuse, so the group seemingly disbanded in 1996. However, they reunited with a new vocalist, William DuVall, to take Stanley's place.