Seattle band Nirvana exploded onto the music scene in 1991, with the release of their landmark album Nevermind. Fronted by charismatic lead singer Kurt Cobain, backed by Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, their thunderous sound and themes of social alienation came to define the decade.

The story of Nirvana is one of the most dramatic in rock history. In only three years they came to dominate the music scene and were lauded as the voice of emerging Generation X. But the price of such sudden and huge success was high.

Music journalist Michael Azerrad had unique access to the band and spent many months interviewing each member - as well as their friends, relatives and associates — at length.

He tracks their rise, from backwoods Aberdeen in Washington State to the intense pressures of global stardom. He tells the truth about Cobain’s drug use, and his intense relationship with wife Courtney Love. Both had survived fractured families and now, hounded by the press and fans alike, their every move was watched and judged. In 1994 Cobain took his own life.

In the years since this tragedy Come as You Are has come to be seen as the definitive biography of Nirvana. Originally published six months prior to Cobain’s death, Azerrad added a poignant chapter detailing the final year of his life, and the spiral of pain, pressure and addiction which led to his suicide.

Praise for Come As You Are:

‘Revelations are manifold… the final chapter maker for particularly poignant reading…one of the 50 best music books ever’ — Q Magazine

‘Amazingly raw and candid… An unsparing and extremely honest depiction of the group’s highly tumultuous history… A wizardly combination of smart journalism and intelligent analysis, Come as You Are is as good as rock bios get’ — Billboard

‘Really takes you inside both the business and soul of rock ’n’ roll, providing the lurid details and lucid pop criticism, too’ — Los Angeles Times

‘Come as You Are is the first book to comprehensively tell the band’s tale from Aberdeen, Washington to world domination’ — Rolling Stone

Michael Azerrad is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone. A former writer/associate producer for MTV News, he has written for many publications, among them Spin, Us, Details, Pulse, Billboard and Entertainment Weekly. He lives in New York.

Michael Azerrad

Books