Editing Grunge (section)

==History==
=== 1965–1985: Roots, predecessors, and influences ===
[[File:Neil Young 1976.jpg|alt=Young in 2006.|thumb|275x275px|[[Neil Young]] has been called the "Godfather of Grunge". His albums ''[[Rust Never Sleeps]]'' and ''[[Ragged Glory]]'' have been described as proto-grunge and grunge.]]
The term proto-grunge has been used to describe artists as having elements of grunge well before the genre appeared in the mid- to late-1980s. Perhaps the earliest proto-grunge album is ''[[Here Are the Sonics]]'', released in 1965 by [[the Sonics]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://loudwire.com/albums-led-grunge/|title=10 Albums That Led to Grunge|website=[[Loudwire]]|date=15 February 2018}}</ref> [[Neil Young]]'s albums ''[[Rust Never Sleeps]]'' (1979) and ''[[Ragged Glory]]'' (1990) have been proclaimed examples of proto-grunge and grunge music.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-greatest-grunge-albums-798851/neil-young-and-crazy-horse-ragged-glory-1990-798864/|title=50 Greatest Grunge Albums|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=April 2019}}</ref> Additionally, he has been cited as an influence by [[Pearl Jam]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theskinny.co.uk/article/35283-pearl-jam-explore-and-not-explode|title=Pearl Jam – Explore and Not Explode |last=Kerr |first=Dave |date=May 16, 2006 |work=The Skinny}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kqed.org/support/membership/onq/webexclusives/article-pearljam.jsp |title=Pearl Jam Unmic'ed |publisher=KQED |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228152554/http://www.kqed.org/support/membership/onq/webexclusives/article-pearljam.jsp |archive-date=February 28, 2014 |access-date=January 7, 2022}}</ref> which led to them backing Young for the ''[[Mirror Ball (Neil Young album)|Mirror Ball]]'' album, released in 1995. Other acts described as proto-grunge include [[Wipers (band)|Wipers]] and their album ''[[Youth of America]]'' (1981), [[Elvis Costello]] and his ''[[Blood & Chocolate]]'' album which [[Will Birch]] hailed as "6 or 8 years ahead of its time" (1986),<ref name="Birch">{{cite book |last1=Birch |first1=Will |title=Cruel To Be Kind: The Life and Music of Nick Lowe |date=15 August 2019 |publisher=Hachette UK |isbn=978-1-4721-2914-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t32IDwAAQBAJ |access-date=30 March 2020|pages=234–235}}</ref> and [[the Stooges]] and their album ''[[Fun House (The Stooges album)|Fun House]]'' (1970).<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-greatest-grunge-albums-798851/stooges-fun-house-1970-798900/|title = 50 Greatest Grunge Albums |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=April 2019}}</ref>

Grunge's sound partly resulted from [[Seattle music scene|Seattle's isolation]] from other music scenes. As Sub Pop's Jonathan Poneman noted, "Seattle was a perfect example of a secondary city with an active music scene that was completely ignored by an American media fixated on Los Angeles and New York [City]."<ref>Aston, Martin. "Freak Scene". ''Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge''. December 2005. p. 12.</ref> Mark Arm claimed that the isolation meant, "this one corner of the map was being really inbred and ripping off each other's ideas".<ref>[[Mick Wall|Wall, Mick]]. "Northwest Passage". ''Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge''. December 2005. p. 9.</ref> Seattle "was a remote and provincial city" in the 1980s; Bruce Pavitt states that the city was "very working class", a place of deprivation, and so the scene's "whole aesthetic – work clothes, thriftstore truckers' hats, pawnshop guitars" was not just a style, it was done because Seattle "was very poor."<ref name="Hunter-Tilney">{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/32fd8cf0-b42c-11e3-a102-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/32fd8cf0-b42c-11e3-a102-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=What Kurt Cobain teaches us about the American way of failure |last=Hunter-Tilney |first=Ludovic |date=March 28, 2014 |newspaper=Financial Times|access-date=February 12, 2017}}</ref> Indeed, when "''[[Nevermind]]'' reached number one in the U.S. charts, Cobain was living in a car."<ref name="Hunter-Tilney" />

Bands began to mix metal and punk in the Seattle music scene around 1984, with much of the credit for this fusion going to [[the U-Men]].<ref>Azerrad (2001), p. 418.</ref> However, some critics have noted that in spite of the U-Men's canonical place as original grunge progenitors, that their sound was less indebted to heavy metal and much more akin to {{nowrap|post-punk.}} However the idiosyncrasy of the band may have been the bigger inspiration, more than the aesthetics themselves.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/u-men-mw0003104006 |title=U-Men – U-Men |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=December 1, 2017}}</ref> Soon Seattle had a growing and "varied music scene" and "diverse urban personality" expressed by local "[[post-punk]] [[garage band]]s".<ref name="Felix-Jager, Steven 2017. p. 135" /> Grunge evolved from the local punk rock scene, and was inspired by bands such as [[the Fartz]], the U-Men, [[10 Minute Warning]], [[the Accüsed]], and the [[Fastbacks]].<ref name="Hype" /> Additionally, the slow, heavy, and sludgy style of the [[Melvins]] was a significant influence on the grunge sound.<ref>Wall, Mick. "Northwest Passage". ''Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge''. December 2005. p. 8.</ref> Roy Shuker states that grunge's success built on the "foundations ... laid throughout the 1980s by earlier [[alternative rock|alternative music]] scenes."<ref name="Shuker, Roy 2013. p. 183">Shuker, Roy. ''Understanding Popular Music Culture, 4th Edition. Routledge, 2013. p. 183''</ref> Shuker states that music critics "... emphasized the perceived purity and authenticity of the Seattle scene.<ref name="Shuker, Roy 2013. p. 183" /> [[File:U-Men at the Bat Cave Seattle.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A rock band, the U-Men, playing onstage in a small venue with low ceilings. The band members are wearing matching grey suits and bow-ties.|Seattle band [[the U-Men]] performing in Seattle]]

Outside the Pacific Northwest, a number of artists and music scenes influenced grunge. Alternative rock bands from the Northeastern United States, including [[Sonic Youth]], [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]], and [[Dinosaur Jr.]], are important influences on the genre. Through their patronage of Seattle bands, Sonic Youth "inadvertently nurtured" the grunge scene, and reinforced the fiercely independent attitudes of its musicians.<ref>Everley, Dave. "Daydream Nation". ''Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge''. December 2005. p. 39.</ref> Nirvana introduced into the Seattle scene the noise-inflected influences of [[Scratch Acid]] and the [[Butthole Surfers]].<ref name="Gina Misiroglu 2015. p. 343" /><ref>Azerrad (2001), p. 439.</ref>

Several Australian bands, including [[the Scientists]], [[Cosmic Psychos]] and [[Feedtime]], are cited as precursors to grunge, their music influencing the Seattle scene through the college radio broadcasts of Sub Pop founder Jonathan Poneman and members of Mudhoney on [[KEXP-FM#KCMU: The early years|KCMU]].<ref>Hennesy, Kate (August 11, 2013). [https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/cosmic-psychos-uberblokes-punked-pumped-and-primed-20130811-2rpt8.html "Cosmic Psychos: Uber-blokes punked, pumped and primed"], ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]''. Retrieved October 8, 2015.</ref><ref name="zan">[[Zan Rowe|Rowe, Zan]] (September 26, 2008). [http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/zan/blog/s2374282.htm "Jonathan Poneman from Sub-Pop takes five with the albums he wishes he'd released..."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426200316/http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/zan/blog/s2374282.htm |date=April 26, 2016}}, ''Mornings with Zan''. Retrieved October 8, 2015.</ref> The influence of Pixies on Nirvana was noted by [[Kurt Cobain]], who commented in a ''Rolling Stone'' interview, "I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band—or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard."<ref>Fricke, David. "Kurt Cobain: The Rolling Stone Interview". ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. January 27, 1994.</ref> In August 1997, in an interview with ''[[Guitar World]]'', [[Dave Grohl]] said: "From Kurt, [[Krist Novoselic|Krist]] [Novoselic] and I liking [[the Knack]], [[Bay City Rollers]], [[The Beatles|Beatles]] and [[ABBA|Abba]] just as much as we liked [[Flipper (band)|Flipper]] and [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]] ... You listen to any Pixies record and it's all over there. Or even [[Black Sabbath]]'s "[[War Pigs]]"—it's there: the power of the dynamic. We just sort of abused it with [[pop rock|pop songs]] and got sick with it."<ref>{{cite book |title=Guitar World Presents Nirvana and the Grunge Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4R0xtoz_gQ8C |author=Guitar World |author-link=Guitar World |year=1998 |publisher=[[Hal Leonard Corporation]] |location=Milwaukee |isbn=0-7935-9006-X |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4R0xtoz_gQ8C&pg=178&dq=%22Beatles+and+Abba+just+as+much+as+we+liked+Flipper+and+Black+Flag%22%22You+listen+to+any+Pixies+record+and+it's+all+over+there.+Or+even+Black+Sabbath's%22%22War%20Pigs%22%22it's+there:+the+power+of+the+dynamic.+We+just+sort+of+abused+it+with+pop+songs+and+got+sick+with+it.%22 170–1]}}</ref>

Aside from the genre's punk and alternative rock roots, many grunge bands were equally influenced by heavy metal of the early 1970s. [[Clinton Heylin]], author of ''Babylon's Burning: From Punk to Grunge'', cited Black Sabbath as "perhaps the most ubiquitous pre-punk influence on the northwest scene".<ref>Heylin, p. 601.</ref> Black Sabbath played a role in shaping the grunge sound, through their own records and the records they inspired.<ref>Carden, Andrew. "Black Sabbath". ''Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge''. December 2005. p. 34.</ref> Musicologist [[Bob Gulla]] asserted that Black Sabbath's sound "shows up in virtually all of grunge's most popular bands, including [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]], [[Soundgarden]], and [[Alice in Chains]]".<ref>[[Bob Gulla|Gulla, Bob]], ''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History: The grunge and post-grunge years, 1991–2005'', [[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood Press]], 2006, p. 231.</ref> Black Sabbath's 1971 album ''[[Master of Reality]]'' in particular has been noted as a key influence on grunge, largely in part due to the sound, as a result of guitarist [[Tony Iommi]] down-tuning his guitar a step and a half.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rhino.com/article/doom-generation-inside-black-sabbaths-master-of-reality |title=Doom Generation: Inside Black Sabbath's Master of Reality |date= 19 February 2021|website=[[Rhino Entertainment]]}}</ref> The influence of [[Led Zeppelin]] is also evident, particularly in the work of Soundgarden, whom ''Q'' magazine noted were "in thrall to '70s rock, but contemptuous of the genre's overt sexism and machismo".<ref>Brannigan, Paul. "Outshined". ''Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge''. December 2005. p. 102.</ref> Jon Wiederhorn of ''Guitar World'' wrote: "So what exactly is grunge? ... Picture a supergroup made up of [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]], Black Sabbath and [[the Stooges]], and you're pretty close."<ref>{{cite book |author=Guitar World |chapter=Seattle Reign: The Rise and Fall of Seattle Grunge|author2=Jon Wiederhorn |pages=1–12|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/guitarworldprese0000nirv/page/n9/mode/2up|title=Guitar World Presents Nirvana and the Grunge Revolution |year=1998 |publisher=Hal Leonard|isbn=978-0-7935-9006-3|quote=}} – [https://archive.org/details/guitarworldprese0000nirv/page/2/mode/2up Quote]</ref> Catherine Strong stated that grunge's strongest metal influence was [[thrash metal]], which had a tradition of "equality with the audience", based on the notion that "anyone could start a band" (a way of thinking also shared by US [[hardcore punk]], which Strong also cites as an influence on grunge) which was also taken up by grunge bands.<ref name="Strong, Catherine 2016. p.18" /> Strong stated that grunge musicians were opposed to the then-popular "[[hair metal]]" bands.<ref name="Strong, Catherine 2016. p.18" />

Strong stated that "sections of what was [US] [[Hardcore punk|hardcore]] became known as grunge."<ref name="Strong, Catherine 2016. p.18" /> Seattle songwriter Jeff Stetson states that "[t]here is no real difference ... between Punk and Grunge."<ref name="Stetson" /> Like punk bands, grunge groups were "embraced as back-to-basics rock 'n' roll bands which reminded the public that the music was supposed to be raw and raunchy".<ref name=popmatters /> One example of the influence of US hardcore on grunge is the impact that the Los Angeles hardcore punk band [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]] had on grunge. Black Flag's 1984 record ''[[My War]]'', on which the band combined heavy metal with their traditional sound, made a strong impact in Seattle. Mudhoney's [[Steve Turner (guitarist)|Steve Turner]] commented, "A lot of other people around the country hated the fact that Black Flag slowed down ... but up here it was really great ... we were like 'Yay!' They were weird and fucked-up sounding."<ref name="Azerrad419">[[Michael Azerrad|Azerrad, Michael]]. ''[[Our Band Could Be Your Life]]: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991''. Boston: [[Little, Brown and Company]], 2001. {{ISBN|0-316-78753-1}}, p. 419.</ref> Turner explained grunge's integration of metal influences, noting, "Hard rock and metal was never that much of an enemy of punk like it was for other scenes. Here, it was like, 'There's only twenty people here, you can't really find a group to hate.'" Charles R. Cross stated that grunge was the "culmination of twenty years of [[punk rock]]" development.<ref name="Cross, Charles R 2012" /> Cross states that the bands most representing the grunge genre were Seattle bands [[Blood Circus (band)|Blood Circus]], Tad, and Mudhoney and Sub Pop's Denver band [[the Fluid]]; he states that Nirvana, with its pop influences and blend of Sonic Youth and [[Cheap Trick]], was lighter-sounding than bands like Blood Circus.<ref name="Cross, Charles R 2012" />

[[File:CosmicPsychos2007.jpg|thumb|alt=An Australian rock band, the Cosmic Psychos, performing onstage. The dark stage is lit up by coloured lights. Three performers are visible: an electric bass player, an electric guitarist, and a drummer behind a drumkit.|[[Cosmic Psychos]], one of several Australian bands which influenced and interacted with the Seattle scene]]

[[Neil Young]] played a few concerts with Pearl Jam and recorded the album ''[[Mirror Ball (Neil Young album)|Mirror Ball]]''. This was grounded not only in his work with his band [[Crazy Horse (band)|Crazy Horse]] and his regular use of distorted guitar—most notably on the album ''[[Rust Never Sleeps]]''—but also his dress and persona.<ref>McNair, James. "''Rust Never Sleeps'' – Neil Young". ''Q: Nirvana and the Story of Grunge''. December 2005. p. 36.</ref> A similarly influential yet often overlooked album is ''[[Neurotica (album)|Neurotica]]'' by [[Redd Kross]], about which Jonathan Poneman said, "''Neurotica'' was a life changer for me and for a lot of people in the Seattle music community."<ref name="ew rk">{{cite magazine |title=This is the most important band in America? |date=December 3, 1993 |url=https://ew.com/article/1993/12/03/this-most-important-band-america/ |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=June 15, 2007 |archive-date=July 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706094522/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,308818,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

The context for the development of the Seattle grunge scene was a "golden age of failure, a time when a swath of American youth embraced the ... vices of indolence and lack of motivation".<ref name="Hunter-Tilney" /> The "idlers of Generation X [were] trying to forestall the dread day of corporate enrollment" and embrace the "cult of the loser"; indeed Nirvana's 1991 song "[[Smells Like Teen Spirit]]" "opens with Cobain intoning 'It's fun to lose.'"<ref name="Hunter-Tilney" />

===1985–1991: Early development and rise in popularity===
[[File:Green River (1980s Sub Pop promo photo).jpg|thumb|left|Seattle grunge pioneers [[Green River (band)|Green River]]]]
In 1985, the band [[Green River (band)|Green River]] released their debut EP ''[[Come on Down (EP)|Come on Down]]'', which is cited by many as being the first grunge record.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Come on Down'' Review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=come-on-down-mw0000109467|pure_url=yes}} |website=[[AllMusic]] |last=Torreano |first=Bradley |access-date=September 22, 2024}}</ref> Another seminal release in the development of grunge was the ''[[Deep Six (album)|Deep Six]]'' compilation, released by [[C/Z Records]] in 1986. The record featured multiple tracks by six bands: Green River, [[Soundgarden]], [[Melvins]], [[Malfunkshun]], [[Skin Yard]], and the U-Men. For many of them it was their first appearance on record. The artists had "a mostly heavy, aggressive sound that melded the slower tempos of heavy metal with the intensity of hardcore". The recording process was low-budget; each band was given four hours of studio time. As Jack Endino recalled, "People just said, 'Well, what kind of music is this? This isn't metal, it's not punk, What is it?' ... People went 'Eureka! These bands all have something in common.'"<ref name="Azerrad419" /> Later that year [[Bruce Pavitt]] released the ''[[Sub Pop 100]]'' compilation and Green River's ''[[Dry As a Bone]]'' EP as part of his new label, Sub Pop. An early Sub Pop catalog described the Green River EP as "ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation".<ref name="Azerrad420">Azerrad (2001), p. 420.</ref> Sub Pop's Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, inspired by other regional music scenes in music history, worked to ensure that their label projected a "Seattle sound", reinforced by a similar style of production and album packaging. While music writer [[Michael Azerrad]] acknowledged that early grunge bands like Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Tad had disparate sounds, he noted "to the objective observer, there were some distinct similarities."<ref>Azerrad (2001), pp. 436–37.</ref>
[[File:Deep Six ad - The Rocket (1986).jpg|thumb|Advertisement for grunge compilation ''[[Deep Six (album)|Deep Six]]'', featured in ''[[The Rocket (music magazine)|The Rocket]]'', April 1, 1986]]
Early grunge concerts were sparsely attended (many by fewer than a dozen people) but Sub Pop photographer [[Charles Peterson (photographer)|Charles Peterson]]'s pictures helped create the impression that such concerts were major events.<ref>Azerrad (2001), pp. 421–22.</ref> Mudhoney, which was formed by former members of Green River, served as the flagship band of Sub Pop during their entire time with the label and spearheaded the Seattle grunge movement.<ref>Azerrad (2001), p. 411.</ref> Other record labels in the Pacific Northwest that helped promote grunge included C/Z Records, [[Estrus Records]], EMpTy Records and [[PopLlama Records]].<ref name="Hype" /> In 1988 Mudhoney released their debut album ''[[Superfuzz Bigmuff]]'', which Bruce Pavitt called "the record that really put Sub Pop on the map," and of its impact said: "It really announced to the world that there was a new style of rock and roll being made in this very obscure city that most people had never heard of."<ref>{{cite web   |url=https://medium.com/vnyl-on-vinyl/firstspin-sub-pop-co-founder-bruce-pavitt-8245424be824| title=#FirstSpin: Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt|work=Medium|date=April 7, 2015}}</ref> 

Grunge attracted media attention in the United Kingdom after Pavitt and Poneman asked journalist [[Everett True]] from the British magazine ''[[Melody Maker]]'' to write an article on the local music scene. This exposure helped to make grunge known outside of the local area during the late 1980s and drew more people to local shows.<ref name="Hype" /> The appeal of grunge to the music press was that it "promised the return to a notion of a regional, authorial vision for [[American rock]]".<ref>Lyons, James. ''Selling Seattle: Representing Contemporary Urban America''. Wallflower, 2004. {{ISBN|1-903364-96-5}}. pp. 128–29.</ref> Grunge's popularity in the [[underground music]] scene was such that bands began to move to Seattle and approximate the look and sound of the original grunge bands. Mudhoney's Steve Turner said, "It was really bad. Pretend bands were popping up here, things weren't coming from where we were coming from."<ref>Azerrad (2001), p. 449.</ref> As a reaction, many grunge bands diversified their sound, with Nirvana and Tad in particular creating more melodic songs.<ref>Azerrad (2001), p. 450.</ref> Dawn Anderson of the Seattle fanzine ''Backlash'' recalled that by 1990 many locals had tired of the hype surrounding the Seattle scene and hoped that media exposure had dissipated.<ref name="Hype" /> In a 1991 article, Mark Arm commented that "It was pretty funny when all the Seattle hype started, because there had been really good bands in Seattle for a long time who couldn't put out albums because they didn't have an outlet for it. Bands like [[Malfunkshun]] and [[10 Minute Warning]], who were amazing."<ref>{{cite news|title=Seattle's Mudhoney turns isolation into oppurtunity|first=Greg|last=Kot|work=Chicago Tribune|page=72|date=September 5, 1991}}</ref>

Chris Dubrow from ''[[The Guardian]]'' states that in the late 1980s, Australia's "sticky-floored ... alternative pub scene" in seedy inner-city areas produced grunge bands with "raw and awkward energy" such as [[the Scientists]], [[X (Australian band)|X]], [[Beasts of Bourbon]], [[feedtime]], [[Cosmic Psychos]] and [[Lubricated Goat]].<ref name="Dubrow">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/australia-culture-blog/2014/apr/07/australia-grunge-nirvana |title=Nirvana had nothing on Australia's Lubricated Goat |last=Dubrow |first=Chris|date=April 7, 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=February 8, 2017 }}</ref> Dubrow said "Cobain ... admitted the Australian wave was a big influence" on his music.<ref name="Dubrow" /> Everett True states that "[t]here's more of an argument to be had for grunge beginning in Australia with the Scientists and their scrawny punk ilk."<ref name="ReferenceA">True, Everett. [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/aug/24/grunge-myths-nirvana-kurt-cobain "Ten Myths about Grunge, Nirvana and Kurt Cobain"]. ''The Guardian''. August 24, 2011</ref>

Grunge bands had made inroads to the musical mainstream in the late 1980s. Soundgarden was the first grunge band to sign to a major label when they joined the roster of [[A&M Records]] in 1988.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune-soundgarden/172326555/|title=Hometown bands are making big waves elsewhere|first=Gillian|last=G. Garr|work=The News Tribune|page=80|date=August 28, 1988}}</ref> Soundgarden, along with other major label signings [[Alice in Chains]] and [[Mother Love Bone]], performed "okay" with their initial major label releases, according to Jack Endino.<ref name="Hype" /> [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]], originally from [[Aberdeen, Washington]], was also courted by major labels, while releasing its first album ''[[Bleach (Nirvana album)|Bleach]]'' in 1989. Nirvana got signed by [[Geffen Records]] in 1990.

Alice in Chains signed with [[Columbia Records]] in 1989,<ref>{{cite book|last1=de Sola|first1=David|title=Alice in Chains: The Untold Story|date=August 4, 2015|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|isbn=978-1250048073|pages=323–324}}</ref> and their debut album, ''[[Facelift (album)|Facelift]]'', was released on August 21, 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vh1.com/news/8881ep/alice-in-chains-facelift-album-facts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522193316/https://www.vh1.com/news/8881ep/alice-in-chains-facelift-album-facts|url-status=live|archive-date=May 22, 2022|title=Alice in Chains' Facelift: 25 Album Facts|publisher=VH1|date=August 21, 2015|access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> The album's second single, "[[Man in the Box]]", was released in January 1991, spent 20 weeks on the Top 20 of [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'s [[Mainstream Rock (chart)|Mainstream Rock]] chart and its music video received heavy rotation on MTV.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sonymusic.com:80/artists/AliceInChains/bio.html |title=Alice In Chains Timeline |website=SonyMusic.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991007164204/http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/AliceInChains/bio.html |archive-date=October 7, 1999 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/alice-in-chains/chart-history/rtt/ |title=Man In The Box Chart History |magazine=Billboard |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> ''Facelift'' became the first album from the grunge movement to be certified gold by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA) on September 11, 1991,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ultimateclassicrock.com/alice-in-chains-facelift/|title=How Alice in Chains Bridged Rock Eras With 'Facelift'|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=August 21, 2015|access-date=December 6, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116064308/http://ultimateclassicrock.com/alice-in-chains-facelift/|archive-date=November 16, 2017}}</ref> for selling over 500,000 copies.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=Alice+in+Chains&ti=Facelift#search_section |title=Alice in Chains (Facelift) – RIAA |website=Recording Industry Association of America}}</ref>

===1991–1997: Mainstream success===
====Peak of influence====
In September 1991, Nirvana released its major label debut, ''[[Nevermind]]''. The album was at best hoped to be a minor success on par with Sonic Youth's ''[[Goo (album)|Goo]]'', which Geffen had released a year earlier.<ref>Wice, Nathaniel. "How Nirvana Made It". ''[[Spin magazine|Spin]]''. April 1992.</ref> It was the release of the album's first single "[[Smells Like Teen Spirit]]" that "marked the instigation of the grunge music phenomenon". Due to the constant airplay of the song's music video on [[MTV]], ''Nevermind'' was selling 400,000 copies a week by Christmas 1991,<ref>Lyons, p. 120</ref> and was certified gold on November 27, 1991.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=NIRVANA&ti=NEVERMIND |title=Nirvana (Nevermind) – RIAA |website=Recording Industry Association of America}}</ref> In January 1992, ''Nevermind'' replaced [[pop music|pop]] superstar [[Michael Jackson]]'s ''[[Dangerous (Michael Jackson album)|Dangerous]]'' at number one on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]].<ref>"The ''Billboard'' 200". ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''. [[Prometheus Global Media]]. January 11, 1992.</ref> ''Nevermind'' was certified diamond by the RIAA in 1999.{{Certification Cite Ref|region=United States|type=album|title=Nevermind|artist=Nirvana}}

The success of ''Nevermind'' surprised the music industry. ''Nevermind'' not only popularized grunge, but also established "the cultural and commercial viability of alternative rock in general."<ref>{{cite web |author=Olsen, Eric |title=10 years later, Cobain lives on in his music |publisher=[[Today.com]].com |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/10-years-later-cobain-lives-his-music-wbna4652653 |date=April 9, 2004 |access-date=July 25, 2007}}</ref> Michael Azerrad asserted that ''Nevermind'' symbolized "a sea-change in rock music" in which the [[glam metal]] that had dominated rock music at that time fell out of favor in the face of music that was perceived as [[authenticity (philosophy)|authentic]] and culturally relevant.<ref>Azerrad (1994), pp. 229–30.</ref> Grunge made it possible for genres thought to be of a niche audience, no matter how radical, to prove their marketability and be co-opted by the mainstream, cementing the formation of an individualist, fragmented culture.<ref>{{cite news |date=February 3, 2013 |title=Are We Still Living in 1993? |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |url=https://nymag.com/arts/art/features/1993-new-museum-exhibit/|access-date=February 26, 2013 |first=Carl |last=Swanson}}</ref> Other grunge bands subsequently replicated Nirvana's success. [[Pearl Jam]], which featured former [[Mother Love Bone]] members [[Jeff Ament]] and [[Stone Gossard]], had released its debut album ''[[Ten (Pearl Jam album)|Ten]]'' in August 1991, a month before ''Nevermind'', but album sales only picked up the following year. By the second half of 1992 ''Ten'' had become a breakthrough success, being certified gold and reaching number two on the ''Billboard'' charts.<ref>Pearlman, Nina. "Black Days". ''[[Guitar World]]''. December 2002.</ref> ''Ten'' by Pearl Jam was certified 13× platinum by the RIAA.{{Certification Cite Ref|region=United States|type=album|title=Ten|artist=Pearl Jam}}

The band Soundgarden's album ''[[Badmotorfinger]]'' and the band Alice in Chains' album ''[[Dirt (Alice in Chains album)|Dirt]]'', along with the band [[Temple of the Dog]]'s [[Temple of the Dog (album)|self-titled album]], a collaboration featuring members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, were also among the 100 top selling albums of 1992.<ref>Lyons, p. 136.</ref> The popular breakthrough of these grunge bands prompted ''Rolling Stone'' to nickname Seattle "the new [[Liverpool]]".<ref name="success NYT" /> Major record labels signed most of the prominent grunge bands in Seattle, while a second influx of bands moved to the city in hopes of success.<ref>Azerrad (2001), pp. 452–53.</ref> The grunge scene was the backdrop in the 1992 [[Cameron Crowe]] film ''[[Singles (1992 film)|Singles]]''. There were several small roles, performances, and cameos in the film by popular Seattle grunge bands including Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. Filmed in and around Seattle in 1991, the film was not released until 1992 during the height of grunge popularity.<ref name="success NYT" />

The popularity of grunge resulted in a large interest in the Seattle music scene's perceived cultural traits. While the Seattle music scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s in actuality consisted of various styles and genres of music, its representation in the media "served to depict Seattle as a music 'community' in which the focus was upon the ongoing exploration of one musical idiom, namely grunge".<ref>Lyons, p. 122.</ref> The fashion industry marketed "grunge fashion" to consumers, charging premium prices for items such as knit ski hats and tartan shirts. Critics asserted that advertising was co-opting elements of grunge and turning it into a fad. ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' commented in a 1993 article, "There hasn't been this kind of exploitation of a subculture since the media discovered hippies in the '60s".<ref>{{cite magazine |date=April 2, 1993 |title=Smells Like Big Bucks |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |url=https://ew.com/article/1993/04/02/smells-big-bucks/ |access-date=July 25, 2007 |first=Peter |last=Kobel |archive-date=October 14, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014023338/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,306055,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Marketers used the "grunge" concept to sell grunge air freshener, grunge hair gel and even CDs of "easy-listening music" called "grunge light".<ref name="Cross, Charles R 2012" /> ''[[The New York Times]]'' compared the "grunging of America" to the mass-marketing of [[punk rock]], [[disco]], and [[hip hop music|hip hop]] in previous years.<ref name="success NYT" /> Ironically, the ''New York Times'' was tricked into printing a fake list of slang terms that were supposedly used in the grunge scene; often referred to as the [[grunge speak]] hoax. This media hype surrounding grunge was documented in the 1996 documentary ''[[Hype!]]''.<ref name="Hype" /> As mass media began to use the term "grunge" in any news story about the key bands, Seattle scene members began to refer to the term as "the G-word".<ref name="Cross, Charles R 2012" />

[[File:PearlJam-DC2000.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A rock band, Pearl Jam, performing onstage. A vocalist sings into a microphone while playing tambourine. A drummer sits behind a drumkit. A guitarist plays electric guitar.|Grunge band Pearl Jam in [[Columbia, Maryland]] in 2000]]
A backlash against grunge began to develop in Seattle; in late 1992, Jonathan Poneman said that in the city, "All things grunge are treated with the utmost cynicism and amusement [. . .] Because the whole thing is a fabricated movement and always has been."<ref name="success NYT" /> Grunge and grunge bands received criticism from musicians such as [[Blur (band)|Blur]]'s [[Damon Albarn]], who was quoted saying "fuck grunge" and "[[The Smashing Pumpkins]] can kiss my fucking ass" while performing onstage.<ref>{{cite web | last = Hood-Morris | first = Greg| url =https://issuu.com/uw_imprint/docs/1993-94_v16-n21_imprint/24 | title = Fuck Grunge | work = [[Imprint (newspaper)|Imprint]] | date=January 7, 1994 | access-date=January 18, 2020}}</ref> Many grunge artists were uncomfortable with their success and the resulting attention it brought. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain told Michael Azerrad, "Famous is the last thing I wanted to be."<ref>Azerrad, Michael. ''Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana''. Doubleday, 1994. {{ISBN|0-385-47199-8}}, p. 254.</ref> Pearl Jam also felt the burden of success, with much of the attention falling on frontman [[Eddie Vedder]].<ref name="crowe">{{cite magazine | last = Crowe | first = Cameron | author-link=Cameron Crowe | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10560431/five_against_the_world | title = Five Against the World | magazine = [[Rolling Stone]] | date=October 28, 1993 | access-date=June 23, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070619084803/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10560431/five_against_the_world |archive-date =June 19, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Nirvana's follow-up album ''[[In Utero (album)|In Utero]]'' (1993) featured an intentionally abrasive album that Nirvana bassist [[Krist Novoselic]] described as a "wild aggressive sound, a true alternative record".<ref>DeRogatis, Jim. ''Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's''. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. {{ISBN|0-306-81271-1}}, p. 18.</ref> Nevertheless, upon its release in September 1993, ''In Utero'' topped the ''Billboard'' charts.<ref>{{cite magazine|date=October 8, 1993 |title=In Numero Uno |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,308282,00.html |access-date=September 8, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071004211114/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C308282%2C00.html |archive-date=October 4, 2007 }}</ref> In 1996, ''In Utero'' was certified 5× platinum by the RIAA.{{Certification Cite Ref|region=United States|type=album|title=In Utero|artist=Nirvana}} Pearl Jam also continued to perform well commercially with its second album, ''[[Vs. (Pearl Jam album)|Vs.]]'' (1993). The album sold a record 950,378 copies in its first week of release, topped the ''Billboard'' charts, and outperformed all other entries in the top ten that week combined.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://ew.com/article/1993/11/19/pearls-jam/ | title=Pearl's Jam | magazine=Entertainment Weekly | date=November 19, 1993 | access-date=August 29, 2007 | first=Nisid | last=Hajari | archive-date=October 14, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014195855/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,308749,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref> In 1993, the grunge band [[Candlebox]] released their [[Candlebox (album)|self-titled album]], which was certified {{nowrap|4× platinum}} by the RIAA.{{Certification Cite Ref|region=United States|type=album|title=Candlebox|artist=Candlebox}} In February 1994, Alice in Chains' EP, ''[[Jar of Flies]]'' peaked at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart.<ref name="AliceinChainsBillboard200">[https://www.billboard.com/artist/278597/alice-chains/chart?f=305 Alice in Chains – Billboard 200 chart history] billboard.com. Retrieved August 1, 2016.</ref> Soundgarden's album ''[[Superunknown]]'', which was also released in 1994, peaked at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart,<ref>[https://www.billboard.com/artist/279997/soundgarden/chart?f=305 Soundgarden – Billboard 200 chart history] billboard.com. Retrieved August 1, 2016.</ref> and was certified 5× platinum by the RIAA.{{Certification Cite Ref|region=United States|type=album|title=Superunknown|artist=Soundgarden}} In 1995, Alice in Chains' [[Alice in Chains (album)|self-titled album]] became their second number 1 album on the ''Billboard'' 200,<ref name="AliceinChainsBillboard200" /> and was certified 2× platinum.{{Certification Cite Ref|region=United States|type=album|title=Alice in Chains|artist=Alice in Chains}}

In the early-mid 1990s, the commercial success of grunge put record labels on a nationwide search for undiscovered talent to promote. This included [[San Diego]], [[California]]–based [[Stone Temple Pilots]],<ref name="Loudwire STP">{{cite magazine |url=http://loudwire.com/best-grunge-bands/ |title=10 Best Grunge Bands of All Time |last=Childers |first=Chad |magazine=[[Loudwire]] |access-date=July 22, 2016 |quote=Could grunge grow outside of Seattle? That was the question in 1992, when San Diego-based rockers Stone Temple Pilots arrived with their 'Core' album, leading the second wave of grunge.}}</ref> Texas-based [[Tripping Daisy]]<ref name="AllMusic grunge" />{{better source needed|reason=[[WP:ALLMUSIC]] dubious for anything other than entertainment reviews with attribution|date=April 2021}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tripping-daisy-mn0000024113/songs|title=Tripping Daisy |website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> and [[Toadies]],<ref name="Toadies Sun-Sentinel">{{cite news |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2001-08-10/entertainment/0108080862_1_toadies-nirvana-grunge |title=Toadies Break Sophomore Jinx – With A Little Help From Nirvana |newspaper=[[Sun-Sentinel]] |date=August 10, 2001 |access-date=May 15, 2016 |archive-date=October 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007062556/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2001-08-10/entertainment/0108080862_1_toadies-nirvana-grunge |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Toadies DailyCal">{{cite news |url=http://www.dailycal.org/2014/03/22/texan-band-toadies-ready-anniversary-tour/ |title=Texas band Toadies ready for anniversary tour |newspaper=The Daily Californian |date=March 22, 2014 |access-date=May 15, 2016 |quote=Few would argue that ''[[Rubberneck (album)|Rubberneck]]'' is the most influential album of the '90s, but it is distinctly grunge, and it is distinctly Texan. |archive-date=June 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610180839/http://www.dailycal.org/2014/03/22/texan-band-toadies-ready-anniversary-tour/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Toadies Rashbaum">{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1488609/20040622/burden_brothers.jhtml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129071137/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1488609/20040622/burden_brothers.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 29, 2013 |title=The Burden Brothers' Key To Success: Stop Trying |last=Rashbaum |first=Alyssa |publisher=MTV |date=June 22, 2004 |access-date=May 15, 2016 |quote=Lewis had left his mark on the early 1990s grunge scene with the Toadies, but the group broke up in 2001 after recording only two studio albums.}}</ref> [[Paw (band)|Paw]],<ref name="Paste 50 Best Grunge Songs" /> Chicago-based [[Veruca Salt]],<ref name="Paste 50 Best Grunge Songs" /> and Australian band [[Silverchair]], bands whose early work continues to be identified broadly (if not in Seattle itself) as "grunge". In 2014, ''Paste'' ranked Veruca Salt's "All Hail Me" #39 and Silverchair's "Tomorrow" #45 on their list of the 50 best grunge songs of all time.<ref name="Paste 50 Best Grunge Songs" /> ''[[Loudwire]]'' named Stone Temple Pilots one of the ten best grunge bands of all time.<ref name="Loudwire STP" /> Grunge bands outside of the United States emerged in several countries. In Canada, [[Eric's Trip]], the first Canadian band signed by the Sub Pop label, has been classified as grunge<ref name="ReferenceC">Barclay, Michael; Schneider, Jason; Jack, Ian. ''Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance, 1985–1995''. ECW Press, 2011</ref> and [[Nickelback]]'s debut album was considered to be grunge. Silverchair achieved mainstream success in the 1990s; the band's song "[[Tomorrow (Silverchair song)|Tomorrow]]" went to number 22 on the [[Radio Songs (chart)|Radio Songs]] chart in September 1995<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/silverchair/chart-history/hsb/ |title=Silverchair Chart History (Radio Songs) |magazine=Billboard |access-date=December 26, 2017}}</ref> and the band's debut album ''[[Frogstomp]]'', released in June 1995, was certified 2× platinum by the RIAA in February 1996.{{Certification Cite Ref|title=Frogstomp|artist=Silverchair|region=United States|type=album}}

During this period, grunge bands that were not from Seattle were often panned by critics, who accused them of being bandwagon-jumpers; [[Stone Temple Pilots]] and [[Bush (British band)|Bush]] in particular fell victim to this. In a January 1994 ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' poll, [[Stone Temple Pilots]] was simultaneously voted "Best New Band" by ''Rolling Stone''{{'s}} readers and "Worst New Band" by the magazine's music critics, highlighting the disparity between critics and fans.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/04/scott-weiland-stone-temple-pilots-2008 |title=Rebuilding the Temple: Inside Stone Temple Pilots' 2008 Comeback |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |last=Greenblatt |first=Leah |date=December 4, 2015}}</ref> Stone Temple Pilots became very popular; their album ''[[Core (Stone Temple Pilots album)|Core]]'' was certified 8× platinum by RIAA{{Certification Cite Ref|region=United States|type=album|title=Core|artist=Stone Temple Pilots}} and their album ''[[Purple (Stone Temple Pilots album)|Purple]]'' was certified 6× platinum by the RIAA.{{Certification Cite Ref|region=United States|type=album|title=Purple|artist=Stone Temple Pilots}} The British post-grunge band [[Bush (British band)|Bush]] released their debut album ''Sixteen Stone'' in 1994.<ref name=SixteenStoneAllMusic>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/sixteen-stone-mw0000125267 |title=Sixteen Stone – Bush |author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> In a review of their second album ''[[Razorblade Suitcase]]'', ''Rolling Stone'' criticized the album and called Bush "the most successful and shameless mimics of Nirvana's music".<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Matt |last=Diehl |title=Bush – Razorblade Suitcase |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bush/albums/album/242869/review/5944129/razorblade_suitcase |date=November 13, 1996 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216075712/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bush/albums/album/242869/review/5944129/razorblade_suitcase |archive-date=February 16, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the book ''Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota'', [[Chuck Klosterman]] wrote, "Bush was a good band who just happened to signal the beginning of the end; ultimately, they would become the grunge [[Warrant (American band)|Warrant]]".{{sfn|Klosterman|2007|p=240}}

====Decline in popularity and end of subculture====
A number of factors contributed to grunge's decline in prominence. Critics and historians do not agree on the exact point that grunge ended.<ref>DiBlasi, Alex. "Grunge" in ''Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars and Stories that Shaped Our Culture'', p. 520–524. Edited by Jacqueline Edmondson. ABC-CLIO, 2013. p. 523</ref> Catherine Strong wrote that "at the end of 1993 ... grunge had become unstable, and was entering the first stages of being killed off"; she pointed out that the "scene had become so successful" and widely known that "imitators had begun to enter the field".<ref name="Strong, Catherine 2016. p.55">Strong, Catherine. ''Grunge: Music and Memory''. Routledge, 2016. p.55</ref> ''Paste'' magazine states by 1994, grunge "was fading fast", with "[[Pearl Jam]] retreating from the spotlight as fast as they could; [[Alice in Chains]], [[Stone Temple Pilots]] and hordes of others were battling horrid drug addictions and struggling for survival."<ref name="Danaher" /> In ''Grunge: Seattle'', Justin Henderson stated that the "downward spiral" began in mid-1994, as the influx of major label money into the scene changed the culture and it had "nowhere to go but down"; he states the death of [[Hole (band)|Hole]] bassist [[Kristen Pfaff]] on June 16, 1994, from a heroin overdose, was "another nail in grunge's coffin."<ref>Henderson, Justin. ''Grunge: Seattle''. Roaring Forties Press, 2016. Ch. 6</ref>

In Jason Heller's 2013 article "Did grunge really matter?", in ''[[The A.V. Club]]'', he stated that Nirvana's ''[[In Utero (album)|In Utero]]'' (September 1993) was "grunge's death knell. As soon as Cobain grumbled, 'Teenage angst has paid off well / Now I'm bored and old,' it was all over."<ref name=avclub>{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/article/did-grunge-really-matter-105354 |title=Did grunge really matter? |last=Heller |first=Jason |date=November 11, 2013 |work=The A.V. Club |access-date=January 31, 2017}}</ref> Heller states that after Cobain's death in 1994, the "hypocrisy" in the grunge of the time "became ... glaring" and "idealism became embarrassing", with the result being that "grunge became the new [mainstream] [[Aerosmith]]".<ref name=avclub /> Heller states that "grunge became an evolutionary dead end", because "it stood for nothing and was built on nothing, and that ethos of negation was all it was about."<ref name=avclub />

During the mid-1990s, many grunge bands broke up or became less visible. On April 8, 1994, Kurt Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound; Nirvana summarily disbanded. After Cobain's death, Bruce Hardy wrote in ''Time'' magazine that he was "the [[John Lennon]] of the swinging Northwest", that he had struggled with a heroin addiction, and claimed that during the last weeks of his life there had been rumors in the music industry that Cobain had suffered a drug overdose and that Nirvana was breaking up.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Handy, Bruce |date=April 18, 1994 |title=Never mind |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980562,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050120134611/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980562,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 20, 2005 |access-date=September 8, 2007}}</ref> Cobain's suicide "served as a catalyst for grunge's ... demise", because it "deflated the energy from grunge and provided the opening for saccharine and corporate-formulated music to regain" its lost footing."<ref name="Batchelor">{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/feature/148553-smells-like-mtv-music-video-and-the-rise-of-grunge/ |title=Smells Like MTV: Music Video and the Rise of Grunge |last=Batchelor |first=Bob |date=September 26, 2011 |website=popmatters.com |publisher=PopMatters |access-date=March 11, 2017}}</ref>

That same year Pearl Jam canceled its summer tour in protest of ticket vendor [[Ticketmaster]]'s unfair business practices.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Gordinier, Jeff |date=October 28, 1994 |title=The Brawls in Their Courts |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |url=https://ew.com/article/1994/10/28/brawls-their-courts/ |access-date=September 8, 2007 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129040704/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,304203,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Pearl Jam then began a boycott of the company; however, Pearl Jam's initiative to play only at non-Ticketmaster venues effectively, with a few exceptions, prevented the band from playing shows in the United States for the next three years.<ref>DeRogatis, p. 65.</ref> In 1996, Alice in Chains gave their final performances with their ailing and estranged lead singer, [[Layne Staley]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.casinoballroom.com/event-detail.php?event=94 |title=Alice in Chains – Sold Out |publisher=[[Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071130054834/http://www.casinoballroom.com/event-detail.php?event=94 |archive-date= November 30, 2007}}</ref> who subsequently died from an overdose of cocaine and heroin in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1470138/late-alice-in-chains-singer-layne-staleys-last-interview-revealed-in-new-book/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140428102355/http://www.mtv.com/news/1470138/late-alice-in-chains-singer-layne-staleys-last-interview-revealed-in-new-book/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 28, 2014 |title=Late Alice In Chains Singer Layne Staley's Last Interview Revealed In New Book |publisher=MTV |last=Wiederhorn |first=Jon |date=February 25, 2003}}</ref> In 1996, Soundgarden and Screaming Trees released their final studio albums of the 1990s, ''[[Down on the Upside]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/down-on-the-upside-mw0000647977 |title=Down on the Upside – Soundgarden |publisher=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> and ''[[Dust (Screaming Trees album)|Dust]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/dust-mw0000184238 |title=Dust – Screaming Trees |publisher=AllMusic}}</ref> respectively. Strong states that Roy Shuker and Stout have written that the "end of grunge" can be seen as being "as late as the breakup of Soundgarden in 1997".<ref name="Strong, Catherine 2016. p.55" />

[[File:Bush grsATX.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A rock band performing onstage|British band Bush were described by Matt Diehl of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' as "the most successful and shameless mimics of Nirvana's music".]]

====Emergence of post-grunge====
{{Main|Post-grunge}}

During the latter half of the 1990s, grunge was supplanted by [[post-grunge]], which remained commercially viable into the start of the 21st century. Post-grunge "... transformed the thick guitar sounds and candid lyrical themes of the Seattle bands into an accessible, often uplifting mainstream aesthetic".<ref name=liveabout>{{cite web |url=https://www.liveabout.com/post-grunge-defined-2898292 |title=The History of Post-Grunge Rock |last=Grierson |first=Tim |publisher=Live About}}</ref> These artists were seen as lacking the underground roots of grunge and were largely influenced by what grunge had become, namely "a wildly popular form of inward-looking, serious-minded hard rock". {{nowrap|Post-grunge}} was a more commercially viable genre that tempered the distorted guitars of grunge with polished, radio-ready production.<ref name="aboutpostgrunge" />{{better source needed|reason=[[WP:ALLMUSIC]] dubious for anything other than entertainment reviews with attribution|date=April 2021}}<ref name="AllMusic postgrunge">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/post-grunge-ma0000005020 |title=Post-Grunge |access-date=August 19, 2012 |work=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> When grunge became a mainstream genre, major labels started signing bands that sounded similar to these bands' sonic identities. Bands labeled as {{nowrap|post-grunge}} that emerged when grunge was mainstream such as [[Bush (British band)|Bush]], [[Candlebox]] and [[Collective Soul]] all are noted for emulating the sound of the bands that launched grunge into the mainstream.<ref name="aboutpostgrunge">{{cite web |url=http://rock.about.com/od/rockmusic101/a/PostGrunge.htm |title=Post-Grunge |publisher=[[About.com]] |last=Grierson |first=Tim |access-date=2016-03-08 |archive-date=2016-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230010620/http://rock.about.com/od/rockmusic101/a/PostGrunge.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{better source needed|reason=[[WP:ALLMUSIC]] dubious for anything other than entertainment reviews with attribution|date=April 2021}}

In 1995, ''SPIN'' writer Charles Aaron stated that with grunge "spent", [[pop punk]] in a slump, [[Britpop]] a "giddy memory" and album-oriented rock over, the music industry turned to "Corporate[-produced] Alternative", which he calls "soundalike fake grunge" or "scrunge".<ref name="Charles, Aaron 1995. p. 131">Charles, Aaron. "Singles". SPIN. November 1995. p. 131</ref> Bands Aaron lists as "scrunge" groups include: [[Better Than Ezra]]; Bush; [[Collective Soul]]; [[Garbage (band)|Garbage]]; [[Hootie & the Blowfish]]; [[Hum (band)|Hum]]; [[Silverchair]]; [[Sponge (band)|Sponge]]; [[Tripping Daisy]]; [[Jennifer Trynin]] and [[Weezer]]; Aaron includes the [[Foo Fighters]] in his list, but states that [[Dave Grohl]] avoided becoming a "scrunge fall gu[y]" by combining 1980s [[hardcore punk]] with 1970s arena trash music in his post-Nirvana group.<ref name="Charles, Aaron 1995. p. 131" /> Bands described as grunge like Bush<ref name=Newsobserver>{{cite news |url=http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/music-news-reviews/article11312237.html |title=Gavin Rossdale brings '90s grunge band Bush to Raleigh |newspaper=[[The News & Observer]] |last=Condran |first=Ed |date=February 26, 2015}}</ref><ref name=USClubGigs>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/514554/bush-to-play-us-club-gigs/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331084027/http://www.mtv.com/news/514554/bush-to-play-us-club-gigs/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 31, 2016 |title=Bush To Play U.S. Club Gigs |publisher=MTV |last=Kaufman |first=Gil |date=June 2, 1999}}</ref><ref name="Graff 1996">{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |publisher=[[Visible Ink Press]] |last=Graff |first=Gary |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7876-1037-1 |quote=Probably the most well-known grunge band to come out of England, Bush exploded onto the American music scene in 1994 with Sixteen Stone. |url=https://archive.org/details/musichoundrockes0000unse }}</ref> and Candlebox<ref>{{cite web |last=Huey |first=Steve |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/candlebox-mn0000543595#biography |title=Candlebox Biography |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 22, 2024}}</ref> also have been largely categorized as {{nowrap|post-grunge.<ref name="AllMusic postgrunge" />}} These two bands became popular after 1992.<ref name="AllMusic postgrunge" /> Other bands categorized as post-grunge that emerged when Bush and Candlebox became popular include [[Collective Soul]]<ref name="aboutpostgrunge" />{{better source needed|reason=[[WP:ALLMUSIC]] dubious for anything other than entertainment reviews with attribution|date=April 2021}} and [[Live (band)|Live]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.laweekly.com/music/the-10-worst-post-grunge-bands-4169278 |title=The 10 Worst Post-Grunge Bands |newspaper=[[LA Weekly]] |last=Steininger |first=Adam |date=August 23, 2013}}</ref>

====Reaction by Britpop====
{{Main|Britpop}}
[[File:Oasis-band-concert-Montreal-Canada-Aug2002.jpg|thumb|left|235px|alt=A rock band, Oasis, performing onstage in front of a large projection screen with images on it. Four members are wearing guitars strapped to them.|Britpop band Oasis performing in Canada in 2002]]
Conversely, another [[rock music|rock]] genre, [[Britpop]], emerged in part as a reaction against the dominance of grunge in the United Kingdom. In contrast to the dourness of grunge, Britpop was defined by "youthful exuberance and desire for recognition".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/britpop-ma0000002480 |title=Britpop |work=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 22, 2024}}</ref>{{better source needed|reason=[[WP:ALLMUSIC]] dubious for anything other than entertainment reviews with attribution|date=April 2021}} The leading Britpop bands, "[[Blur (band)|Blur]] and [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]] existed as reactionary forces to [grunge's] eternal downcast glare."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hazlitt.net/blog/what-if-grunge-never-happened |title=What if Grunge Never Happened? |last=Lipez|first=Zachary |date=February 25, 2015 |publisher=Hazlitt |access-date=February 18, 2017 }}</ref> Britpop artists' new approach was inspired by Blur's tour of the United States in the spring of 1992. [[Justine Frischmann]], formerly of [[Suede (band)|Suede]] and leader of [[Elastica]] (and at the time in a relationship with Damon Albarn) explained, "Damon and I felt like we were in the thick of it at that point ... it occurred to us that Nirvana were out there, and people were very interested in American music, and there should be some sort of manifesto for the return of Britishness."<ref>Harris, p. 79.</ref>

Britpop artists were vocal about their disdain for grunge. In a 1993 ''[[NME]]'' interview, [[Damon Albarn]] of Britpop band [[Blur (band)|Blur]] agreed with interviewer [[John Harris (critic)|John Harris]]' assertion that Blur was an "anti-grunge band", and said, "Well, that's good. If punk was about getting rid of hippies, then I'm getting rid of grunge" (ironically Kurt Cobain once cited Blur as his favorite band).<ref>[[John Harris (critic)|Harris, John]]. "A shite sports car and a punk reincarnation". ''[[NME]]''. April 10, 1993.</ref> [[Noel Gallagher]] of [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]], while a fan of Nirvana, wrote music that refuted the pessimistic nature of grunge. Gallagher noted in 2006 that the 1994 Oasis single "[[Live Forever (Oasis song)|Live Forever]]" "was written in the middle of grunge and all that, and I remember Nirvana had a tune called 'I Hate Myself and I Want to Die,' and I was like ... 'Well, I'm not fucking having that.' As much as I fucking like him [Cobain] and all that shit, I'm not having that. I can't have people like that coming over here, on [[heroin|smack]] [heroin], fucking saying that they hate themselves and they wanna die. That's fucking rubbish."<ref>"Lock the Door". ''Stop the Clocks'' [bonus DVD]. Columbia, 2006.</ref> In an interview during [[Pinkpop Festival|Pinkpop Festival 2000]], Oasis' [[Liam Gallagher]] attacked [[Pearl Jam]], who were also performing, criticizing their depressing lyrical content and writing them off as "rubbish".<ref>{{Citation|title=Liam Gallagher interview @ Pinkpop 2000 (2)| date=31 October 2007 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBiqYlV5nDg| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211029/ZBiqYlV5nDg| archive-date=2021-10-29|language=en|access-date=2021-04-02}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===Since 1997: Successors and revivals===
====Second-wave post-grunge====
[[File:Creed (band).jpg|thumb|240px|Post-grunge band Creed in 2002]]
<!-- Please read talk page before deciding to remove information about grunge in the 21st century-->
Following the end of the original grunge movement, post-grunge increased in popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s with newer bands such as [[Creed (band)|Creed]], [[Nickelback]], [[3 Doors Down]] and [[Puddle of Mudd]].<ref name="aboutpostgrunge" />{{better source needed|reason=[[WP:ALLMUSIC]] dubious for anything other than entertainment reviews with attribution|date=April 2021}} Other {{nowrap|post-grunge}} bands include [[Foo Fighters]], [[Staind]] and [[Matchbox Twenty]]. These post-grunge artists were criticized for their commercialized sound as well as their "worldview built around the comforts of community and romantic relationships", as opposed to grunge's lyrical exploration of "troubling issues such as suicide, societal hypocrisy and drug addiction."<ref name="aboutpostgrunge" />{{better source needed|reason=[[WP:ALLMUSIC]] dubious for anything other than entertainment reviews with attribution|date=April 2021}} Adam Steininger criticized post-grunge bands' "diluted ditties filled with watered-down lyrics, all seemingly revolving around suffering through romance."<ref name="Steininger">{{cite web |url=http://www.westword.com/music/the-ten-shittiest-post-grunge-bands-5684793/2 |title=The ten shittiest post-grunge bands |last=Steininger |first=Adam |date=August 15, 2013 |website=westword.com |publisher=Westword |access-date=March 5, 2017 |archive-date=July 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720140003/http://www.westword.com/music/the-ten-shittiest-post-grunge-bands-5684793/2 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Criticizing many bands that have been described as post-grunge, Steininger criticized [[Candlebox]] for their "pop-filled" sound, focus on "love lyrics, and writing songs without "versatility and creativity; [[Three Days Grace]] for their "diluted" and "radio-friendly music"; 3 Doors Down for focusing on "snagging hit singles instead of creating quality albums"; [[Finger Eleven]] for going in a "pop rock" direction; Bush's "random phrasings of nonsense"; [[Live (band)|Live]]'s "pseudo pop poetry" that "strangled the essence of grunge", [[Puddle of Mudd]]'s "watered down post-grunge sound"; [[Lifehouse (band)|Lifehouse]], for tearing down "grunge's sound and groundbreaking structure to appeal more to the masses"; and [[Nickelback]], which he calls the "featherweight ... punching bags of post-grunge" whose music is "dull as dishwater".<ref name="Steininger" />

====Grunge revivals<!--'Grunge revival' redirects here-->====
Many major grunge bands continued recording and touring with success in the 2000s and 2010s. Perhaps the most notable grunge act of the 21st century has been [[Pearl Jam]]. In 2006, ''Rolling Stone'' writer Brian Hiatt described Pearl Jam as having "spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame", but noted the band had nevertheless developed a loyal concert following akin to that of the [[Grateful Dead]].<ref name="secondcoming">{{cite magazine |author=Hiatt, Brian |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/pearl_jam_the_second_coming |title=The Second Coming of Pearl Jam |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=June 16, 2006 |access-date=June 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823234208/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/pearl_jam_the_second_coming |archive-date=August 23, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> They saw a return to wide commercial success with 2006's [[Pearl Jam (album)|''Pearl Jam'']], 2009's ''[[Backspacer]]'' and 2013's ''[[Lightning Bolt (Pearl Jam album)|Lightning Bolt]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/328459/pearl-jam/chart|title=Pearl Jam – Chart history |magazine=Billboard|access-date=March 3, 2016}}</ref> Alice In Chains reformed for a handful of reunion dates in 2005 with several different vocalists replacing Layne Staley. Eventually settling on [[William DuVall]] as Staley's replacement, in 2009 they released ''[[Black Gives Way to Blue]],'' their first record in 14 years. The band's 2013 release, ''[[The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here]]'', reached number 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200.<ref>{{cite magazine |url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=Alice In Chains|chart=Billboard 200}} |title=Alice In Chains – Chart history: ''Billboard'' 200 |magazine=Billboard |publisher=Prometheus Global Media |access-date=October 1, 2013}}</ref> Soundgarden reformed in 2010 and released their album ''[[King Animal]]'' two years later which reached the top five of the national albums charts in Denmark, New Zealand, and the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://acharts.us/album/74435 |title=King Animal by Soundgarden – Music Charts |website=Acharts.us |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd joined [[Alain Johannes]] (Queens of the Stone Age, Eleven), Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age) and [[Dimitri Coats]] (Off!) to form side project Ten Commandos in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tencommandos.net/ |title=Ten Commandos |publisher=Ten Commandos |access-date=April 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116090535/http://www.tencommandos.net/ |archive-date=November 16, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Despite Kurt Cobain's death, the remaining members of Nirvana have continued to be successful posthumously. Due to the high sales for Kurt Cobain's ''[[Journals (Cobain)|Journals]]'' and the band's best-of compilation ''[[Nirvana (Nirvana album)|Nirvana]]'' upon their releases in 2002, ''The New York Times'' argued Nirvana "are having more success now than at any point since Mr. Cobain's suicide in 1994."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C03E6DE1431F930A25752C0A9659C8B63|title=Nine Years After Cobain's Death, Big Sales for All Things Nirvana|author=Nelson, Chris|date=January 13, 2003|access-date=August 29, 2007|newspaper=nytimes.com}}</ref> This trend has continued through the century's second decade, with the reissuing of the band's discography and release of the authorized documentary ''[[Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck]]''.<ref>{{Citation|last=Morgen|first=Brett|title=Cobain: Montage of Heck|date=May 4, 2015|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4229236/|access-date=March 3, 2016}}</ref> In 2012, the surviving members of Nirvana re-united, with [[Paul McCartney]] in place of Cobain, to record a track for the soundtrack Dave Grohl's documentary ''[[Sound City (film)|Sound City]]'' titled "Cut Me Some Slack".<ref>{{Citation|last=nevadch|title=Nirvana & Paul McCartney – Cut Me Some Slack [Live] [HD 720p]|date=December 14, 2012|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a8j_LEryAs| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211029/7a8j_LEryAs| archive-date=2021-10-29|access-date=December 5, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

One of the most successful rock groups of the 21st century, [[Queens of the Stone Age]], has featured major contributions from various grunge musicians. [[Josh Homme]] had briefly played in [[Screaming Trees]] with off-and-on QOTSA member [[Mark Lanegan]], before forming the group. Nirvana's [[Dave Grohl]] and [[Eleven (band)|Eleven's]] Alain Johannes have also provided notable contributions. Homme and Grohl joined with [[Led Zeppelin]]'s [[John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones]] to form the supergroup [[Them Crooked Vultures]] in 2009. Johannes also performed with the group as a touring member.

[[File:Courtney Barnett at Rough Trade.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A female singer and guitarist performing onstage. She is singing into a microphone while playing electric guitar.|Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist [[Courtney Barnett]] in 2015]]
In the early 2000s, grunge would make multiple regionally based resurgences, albeit minor ones. In 2005, ''[[The Seattle Times]]'' made note of {{nowrap|grunge-influenced}} groups returning in the Seattle scene.<ref>{{cite news |author=Scanlon, Tom |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20050923/nite23/weapons-of-mass-neo-grunge-appeal |title=Weapons of Mass Neo-Grunge Appeal |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |date=September 23, 2005 |access-date=February 17, 2012 |archive-date=June 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604042813/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20050923&slug=nite23 |url-status=live }}</ref> Similarly, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported of grunge-influenced groups from [[Yorkshire and the Humber|Yorkshire]], including [[Dinosaur Pile-Up]], [[Pulled Apart by Horses]], and [[Wonderswan (band)|Wonderswan]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Simpson, Dave |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jan/30/leeds-grunge-scene |title=Just Don't Call It Grunge: Leeds' New Music Scene |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=January 30, 2009 |access-date=February 17, 2012 |location=London}}</ref> Also, in 2003, the ''New York Times'' noted a resurgence in grunge fashion.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/30/nyregion/front-row.html?src=pm |title=FRONT ROW |work=[[The New York Times]] |author=La Ferla, Ruth |date=September 30, 2003 |access-date=August 19, 2012}}</ref>

The 2010s have birthed a number of bands influenced by grunge. Unlike their forebears, some of these acts ascribe the label to themselves willingly. Many acts have been noted for affiliating and/or collaborating with prominent figures from the original alternative rock era. [[Steve Albini]] has produced for or worked with members of bands such as [[Bully (band)|Bully]],<ref>{{cite web|first=Bryn |last=Lovitt |url=http://www.imposemagazine.com/bytes/new-music/bully-i-remember |title=Bully, "I Remember" &#124; New Music |work=Impose Magazine |date=March 17, 2015 |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://indieunderground.ca/indie-music/new-music-bully-trying-grunge-rock-alternative.html |title=New Music: BULLY – "Trying" (Grunge / Rock / Alternative) &#124; Indie Underground |website=Indieunderground.ca |date=May 26, 2015 |access-date=April 1, 2016 |archive-date=July 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720165723/http://indieunderground.ca/indie-music/new-music-bully-trying-grunge-rock-alternative.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Vomitface,<ref>{{cite news |last=Laban |first=Linda |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/vomitface-are-literally-dissatisfied-with-everything-but-jesus-teen-mom-and-music-7711741 |title=Vomitface Are 'Literally Dissatisfied With Everything' but Jesus, 'Teen Mom' & Music |newspaper=The Village Voice |date=September 29, 2015 |access-date=April 1, 2016 |archive-date=November 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101231626/http://www.villagevoice.com/music/vomitface-are-literally-dissatisfied-with-everything-but-jesus-teen-mom-and-music-7711741 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="first-avenue.com">{{cite web|url=http://first-avenue.com/performer/vomitface |title=Vomitface |publisher=First Avenue |date=July 5, 2015 |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> and [[Shannon Wright]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=MacKenzie |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/over-the-sun-mw0000330139 |title=Over the Sun – Shannon Wright |website=[[AllMusic]] |date=April 6, 2004 |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> while [[Emma Ruth Rundle]] of [[Marriages (band)|Marriages]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slugmag.com/national-music-reviews/marriages-salome/ |title=Review: Marriages – Salome |website=SLUG Magazine |date=May 1, 2015 |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> has toured with [[Buzz Osborne]] of the [[Melvins]]. Other notable acts that have been labelled as grunge or as heavily influenced by the grunge era, include [[Courtney Barnett]],<ref>{{cite news|last=Ganz |first=Jacob |url=https://www.npr.org/event/music/394023874/courtney-barnett-nobody-really-cares-if-you-dont-go-to-the-party-live-at-sxsw |title=Courtney Barnett, 'Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go To The Party' (Live At SXSW) |newspaper=NPR |date=19 March 2015 |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Everett |last=True |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/17/courtney-barnett-sometimes-i-sit-and-think-and-sometimes-i-just-sit-review |title=Courtney Barnett: Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit review &#124; Music |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=17 March 2015 |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> [[Wolf Alice]],<ref>{{cite web|author=Nme.Com |url=https://www.nme.com/photos/nme-s-albums-of-the-year-2015/394320#/photo/47 |title=NME Music Galleries |website=Nme.com |date=February 5, 2016 |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> [[Yuck (band)|Yuck]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clashmusic.com/news/yuck-talk-grunge-revival |title=Yuck Talk Grunge Revival &#124; News &#124; Clash Magazine |website=Clashmusic.com |date=24 January 2011 |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> [[Speedy Ortiz]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukfestivalguides.com/artist/speedy-ortiz |title=Speedy Ortiz |website=Ukfestivalguides.com |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> [[the Kut]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clashmusic.com/videos/premiere-the-kut-mind-games|title=Premiere: The Kut – 'Mind Games'|website=Clash Magazine|date=29 March 2018 }}</ref> [[Mitski]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.loudandquiet.com/interview/mitski-revels-hurt-to-make-neo-grunge-but-would-trade-it-all-to-be-happy-and-dull/|title=Mitski revels in hurt to make neo grunge, but would trade it all to be happy and dull – Loud And Quiet|newspaper=Loud And Quiet|access-date=February 18, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> [[2:54]],<ref>{{cite news|first=Sian |last=Rowe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jan/07/colette-hannah-thurlow-2-54 |title=2:54: the sisters heading to Doom Rock Central &#124; Music |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> [[False Advertising (band)|False Advertising]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://falseadvertising.bandcamp.com/album/brainless|title=Brainless, by False Advertising|website=False Advertising|access-date=February 18, 2017}}</ref> [[Slothrust]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Donelson |first=Marcy |url={{AllMusic|artist|slothrust-mn0003211103#biography|pure_url=yes}} |title=Slothrust Biography |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 22, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sonicbids.com/band/slothrust-1/|title=About Slothrust|website=Sonicbids|language=en|access-date=February 18, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218144422/https://www.sonicbids.com/band/slothrust-1/|archive-date=February 18, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://slothrust.bandcamp.com/|title=Everyone Else, by SLOTHRUST|website=SLOTHRUST|access-date=February 18, 2017}}</ref> [[Baby in Vain]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://partisanrecords.com/artist/baby-in-vain/|title=Baby In Vain – Partisan Records|website=partisanrecords.com|access-date=August 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005143956/http://partisanrecords.com/artist/baby-in-vain/|archive-date=October 5, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Big Thief]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spin.com/2016/06/big-thief-all-eyes-on-masterpiece-interview/|title=Big Thief: The Dynamic Indie Quartet Can't Be Satisfied With One 'Masterpiece' {{!}} SPIN|newspaper=Spin |date=June 30, 2016|access-date=September 2, 2016|last1=Unterberger |first1=Andrew }}</ref> [[Torres (musician)|Torres]],<ref>{{cite news|first=Corinne |last=Jones |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/17/torres-sprinter-review-astonishing-unsettling |title=Torres: Sprinter review – astonishing, unsettling, beautiful |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> Lullwater,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://nysmusic.com/2019/03/15/interview-athens-georgia-meets-seattle-grunge-lullwater/ |title=Interview: Athens, Georgia meets Seattle grunge: Lullwater |access-date=2 July 2019}}</ref> and [[Red Sun Rising]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.axs.com/interview-red-sun-rising-vocalist-mike-protich-unravels-thread-129163 |title=Interview: Red Sun Rising vocalist Mike Protich unravels 'Thread' |access-date=2 July 2019}}</ref>

Media outlets also began referring to a revival of the grunge sound around the mid-2010s, with the label being given to bands such as [[Title Fight]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/the-90s-grunge-revival-is-alive-and-well-in-this-new-title-fight-video|title=The '90s Grunge Revival Is Alive And Well In This New Title Fight Video – News – Rock Sound Magazine|website=Rock Sound Magazine|access-date=January 18, 2018|archive-date=July 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720165639/https://www.rocksound.tv/news/read/the-90s-grunge-revival-is-alive-and-well-in-this-new-title-fight-video|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Culture creature">{{cite web|url=https://www.culturecreature.com/grunge-emo-revival/|title=Enough With the 'Grunge Revival.' Rock Bands of 2017 Should Look Ahead – Culture Creature|date=March 29, 2017|access-date=January 18, 2018}}</ref> [[InCrest]],{{cn|date=October 2024}} [[Fangclub]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/11/artist-of-the-day-1109-dublins-fangclub-sink-their-teeth-into-the-uk-on-debut-album-6917177/ |title=Artist of the day 11/09: Dublin's Fangclub sink their teeth into the UK on debut album|date=11 September 2017|access-date=February 2, 2018 }}</ref> [[Code Orange (band)|Code Orange]],<ref name="Culture creature" /> [[My Ticket Home]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rocksins.com/reviews/my-ticket-home-unreal/|title=My Ticket Home – unReal – Rock Sins|website=rocksins.com|date=13 October 2017|access-date=January 18, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://teamrock.com/review/2017-10-09/my-ticket-home-unreal-album-review|title=My Ticket Home – unReal album review|date=October 9, 2017|access-date=January 18, 2018}}</ref> [[Citizen (band)|Citizen]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.punknews.org/review/12093/citizen-youth|title=Citizen – Youth|last=Punknews.org|website=punknews.org|date=22 July 2013 |access-date=January 18, 2018}}</ref> [[Milk Teeth]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/milk-teeth-vile-child|title=Milk Teeth – Vile Child|date=22 January 2016 |access-date=January 18, 2018}}</ref> and [[Muskets (band)|Muskets]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.punktastic.com/album-reviews/muskets-spin/|title=Muskets – 'Spin' – Punktastic|website=punktastic.com|access-date=January 18, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://altcorner.com/bands/muskets/|title=MUSKETS – ALTCORNER.com|access-date=January 18, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://vennrecords.com/muskets/|title=Muskets – Venn Records|date=May 6, 2015|access-date=January 18, 2018}}</ref> some of which have been described as merging the genre with [[emo]].{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}