Hall of Fame Inductees Kiss original band members Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, Ace Frehley, and Gene Simmons show their trophies at the 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Thursday, April, 10, 2014, in New York.
Kurt Cobain with Nirvana perform in Seattle, Wash., in this 1993 file photo. Nirvana, which changed music and fashion in the 1990s with the punk rock-inspired grunge sound, is joining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a class with Kiss, Peter Gabriel and Hall & Oates.NEW YORK – Nirvana, who set music and fashion trends with their grunge sound but whose career was cut short by leader Kurt Cobain’s suicide 20 years ago, led inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Thursday.
Kiss entered the Hall thumbing its nose at critics, the blue-eyed soul duo Hall & Oates called for more Philadelphia bands to join them, Peter Gabriel urged young musicians to use their imaginations, Cat Stevens was visibly touched, Linda Ronstadt was honored in her absence and, predictably, Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band turned their induction into a marathon
Nirvana was inducted in its first year of eligibility. The trio’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” hit like a thunderclap upon its 1991 release, briefly making the Pacific Northwest rock’s hottest scene. Joan Jett replaced Cobain onstage at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, singing the song with Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl.
“Nirvana fans walk up to me every day and say thank you for the music,” said Novoselic, the band’s bass player. “When I hear that, I think of Kurt Cobain.”
Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, hugged the two surviving band members, with whom she’s had some bad blood.