Nirvana Accepts MTV Video Vanguard Award: Krist Novoselic Says Band Still Resonates ‘Because People Are Still Hungry for Authenticity’

Grunge icons Nirvana received the Video Vanguard lifetime achievement award at Sunday night’s (Sept. 27) MTV Video Music Awards.

The trio’s surviving members, bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl, accepted the award, joined by touring guitarist Pat Smear. It was presented to them by rap great Chuck D, whose group Public Enemy was changing the game in hip-hop roughly around the same time that Nirvana was doing the same in rock.

“Nirvana never bent to the will of the mainstream,” Chuck D opened his speech. “They always stayed true to their vision, their sound was loud, beautiful, daringly open, their lyrics were poetic, raw and deeply human. Their music videos defined an era. They were completely original and always fearless at a time when the status quo kinda got to the point of being formulaic. Today their influence can be heard in virtually every generation of artist who followed.

“The most enduring artists are the ones who dare to be completely unapologetically themselves, and I don’t think there’s ever been a band completely like Nirvana,” he continued. “They owned the moment.” 

After a video montage with the band commenting on many of their most memorable clips — including “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “In Bloom” and “Heart-Shaped Box” — in archival footage, Novoselic, Grohl and Smear took the stage to receive their Moon Persons. Novoselic did the talking, thanking everyone (particularly Nirvana’s late frontman, Kurt Cobain) who made the band’s MTV legacy possible.

“The ideas for those videos all grew out of the vision of one of the greatest artists of all time, Kurt Cobain,” Novoselic raved. “Kurt was one of one. None of us could’ve imagined that our band, our sound or our aesthetic would mean so much to so many people, but ultimately the music had a life of its own. It charted its own course. Nirvana continues to resonate so deeply because people are still hungry for authenticity. Or something real, something uncompromising. Something that tells you it’s just OK to come as you are. Kurt would’ve loved that legacy.”

Nirvana won five VMAs during its career — including three consecutive wins for best alternative video, for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1992), “In Bloom” (1993) and “Heart-Shaped Box” (1994).