What if nirvana was still around

We could see that something was happening, but we really never expected that it would turn out to be as big as it was. On Apr. Although Grohl shortly went on to form Foo Fighters, he still believes Nirvana would be making music today if Cobain was still alive.

Whether it would be called Nirvana or something else. It was even difficult just to turn on the radio. Over the past few months, Grohl has shared some other behind-the-scenes details about his time in Nirvana.

Last week, he revealed that he, Novoselic and Pat Smear still jam together as Nirvana sometimes. Similarly, Grohl recently explained that he still has dreams Nirvana still exists.

Shortly following the announcement, Grohl shared who he wants to induct the band if they end up being chosen. Meanwhile, the Rock Hall nominations have sparked that debate about genre again.

Let us know in the comments below. Sign in. Statue of Kurt Cobain in Aberdeen, Washington. Almost nothing he did was particularly transparent. What made him interesting as an artist — the complexity, the contradictions, the onion-like layers of interpretation opened up by the way he strung words together— was also what distinguished him as a human being. But my contribution to the parade of hyperbole about Cobain is that he may have been the most complicated rock star since Bob Dylan, a mainstream artist who turned inscrutability into an art form.

For all its flaws, the tear-stained Aberdeen statue does suggest what might have been, had Cobain lived. As late as November , only a few months before his suicide, Cobain would talk excitedly about his next move. He wanted acoustic instruments and more textured arrangements for the next album, something that would plunge him deeper into the introspective shadows and subterranean beauty of a Nick Drake or a Skip Spence co-founder of Moby Grape rather than the scorched-earth fury of In Utero tracks like Milk It or Rape Me.

He reduced the songs to their barest essentials: voice, guitar, a bit of bass, brushed drums. On Penny Royal Tea, it was just him and his guitar. So my guess is he would have kept moving, flitting from project to project much like a Dylan, Lanegan, Lou Reed or Neil Young, in search of new inspiration, rather than becoming a greatest-hits jukebox.

But the work would keep him relevant because he would be restless and curious enough to keep exploring. Who might he be collaborating with today? And you just know that Kanye West would have booked some studio time with him in mind. Greg Kot is the music critic at the Chicago Tribune. His work can be found here. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.