Kurt Cobain of Nirvana during the taping of MTV Unplugged at Sony Studios in New York City, ... [+]
Timeless music never dies and that rings true again, as Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video reached a new milestone. The 1991 single, which stood the test of time through many decades, hit 1 billion views on YouTube on Christmas Day. It is the second music video from the 1990s to reach the billion views club on the platform.
During the past year, the music video, which was uploaded on June 16, 2009, averaged over 450,000 views per day, giving the rock group an overall count of 730 million views for 2019. 150 million views rooted from the United States, while Brazil (70 million), Mexico (64 million), France (31 million) and the United Kingdom (26 million) followed closely behind.
The band’s bassist Krist Novoselic took to Twitter to retweet the announcement and respond by saying, “Thanks to you all!!!!”
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” was the lead single off the critically acclaimed album Nevermind, which was released in 1991 under DGC Records. The iconic tune reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart. While it didn’t take the top placement on the Billboard Hot 100, it went on to peak at No. 6. on the listing. Nirvana has surprisingly never had a No. 1 song on the Hot 100.
Cobain previously said in an interview with Rolling Stone that he just wanted to make the “ultimate pop song” in reference to “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” He continued:
“I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band — or at least in a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard.”
Nevermind hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The band went on to score a total of four No. 1 hit albums and five top 10 hits, with albums ranging from the famous MTV Unplugged in New York to their self-titled project in 2002 and In Utero in 1993.
