Nirvana's landmark 'Nevermind' video 'saved' by Kurt Cobain

Were it not for Kurt Cobain, musical history might be completely different -- but not in the way you're thinking.

As the classic grunge album "Nevermind" turns 20-years old on Saturday (Sept. 24), it can thank much of its success to the legendary "Smells like Teen Spirit" video. Had Cobain not offered his last-minute input, the video would have been nothing close to what it became -- a rage- and chaos-infused masterpiece. And who knows what impact that would have had on the early 1990s grunge scene.

"I flew down at the last minute to L.A. and edited it myself. I threw in a few extra things which pretty much saved it," Cobain said in a 1993 interview with MTV.

"It wasn't what I pictured in my mind," he added. "Most of the stuff that was used looked contrived. There was no spontaneity in it. So I threw all the spontaneous parts in."

Unlike many of the high-priced videos of the day, "Smells like Teen Spirit" cost between $30,000 and $50,000.

Here's the interview. And because we like you, below that is the video for "Smells like Teen Spirit."


And here's "Smells like Teen Spirit"