Editing Grunge (section)

===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>