Revisit Photos From Nirvana’s ‘MTV Unplugged in New York’ Performance
November 1, 1994, MTV Unplugged in New York, featuring the historic Nirvana set, was released in stores.
It dropped slightly less than a year after it was taped on Nov. 18 of 1993, about 11 months from when it aired on MTV Dec. 16 of the same year, and nearly seven months after Kurt Cobain died by suicide on April 5 of 1994.
The live album was an instant success. The first Nirvana release after the death of Cobain, it debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and was certified eight times platinum. At the Grammy's in 1996, the album won for Best Alternative Music Performance, Nirvana's only Grammy win.
Nirvana, "Lake of Fire"
Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York has achieved its own kind of lore, with most magazine reviews giving it 5 out of 5 stars, or a rating of (at least) 9 out of 10. It's ranked on most best live albums lists and the L.A. Times review of the 2007 DVD release called it deserving "a place on the rock TV history shelf alongside the informal, sit-down section of Elvis Presley’s epic comeback special in 1968." The guitar that Cobain played in the performance sold for an eye-popping $6 million, setting a new record.
The set list for Nirvana's Unplugged in New York comprises 14 songs:
- "About A Girl"
- "Come as You Are"
- "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam"
- "The Man Who Sold the World"
- "Pennyroyal Tea"
- "Dumb"
- "Polly"
- "On a Plain"
- "Something in the Way"
- "Plateau"
- "Oh Me"
- "Lake of Fire"
- "All Apologies"
- "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"
Nirvana, "The Man Who Sold The World"
Check out the pics from the Unplugged set below.