1). Most of the grunge bands had broken up by the end of the 90’s. Unfortunately most of the bands had a member die due to some drug or self-inflicted accident. The grunge lifestyle is not one that is built for longevity. All in all grunge is essentially dead though its influence is far from gone. Indie rock has made a strong resurgence in recent years though it sounds nothing like the bands of old.

2). MTV continued to shape what people saw as cool and what music people listened to though it eventually devolved into channel that has nothing to do with music. This does not diminish the impact MTV had on the music industry 15 years ago. MTV was one of the major reasons that Pavement stayed underground their entire career and Nirvana took off. Nirvana fit the paradigm of MTV’s target audience so they scooped them up and ran.

3). Kurt Cobain was a partially innocent victim to his own charismatic authority and was swept up like most people are in the rock star lifestyle. He couldn’t handle the constant attention and pressure from people he didn’t even know. He took criticism very hard (Sandford 1995). Cobain was, like most rock stars, his own worst enemy and in the end he was the leader of his own failing bandwagon.

4). Ronald Reagan’s presidency was what paved the way for the grunge and indie movements at all. Without his attempt to return America to the stagnant 50’s culture their would have been no counter-culture. People looked at Reagan and his minions and said, that’s not the life for me. People didn’t want to grow up and work on Wall Street. The youth had become disillusioned like the beats. Phil Collins and Rod Stewart plagued the radio waves so the youth sought out grunge, punk and indie rock as a means of dealing with their otherwise mundane lives. 

5). Nirvana also happened to come along at the perfect time for the music industry. As people began to get bored with 80’s synth, something new and commercially viable was born. Nirvana fell victim to the McDonaldization of society and their album was streamlined for mainstream success, which destroyed their underground credibility. The loss of this underground ‘cred’ and authenticity is something that would plague Cobain to his death, he even mentioned it in his suicide note.

6.) Grunge and indie are no different than an other subcultures. They were born to combat the mundane, and the mainstream. Savvy youth and hipsters flooded the underground in an attempt to gain something that was real, in order to feel a personal connection with music again. Something that had been lost during the 80’s to the anthem rockers of hair metal and synth pop. With these two subcultures they were able to regain something lost in their everyday lives and listen to amazing music while they did it. Pavement is often remembered as the greatest indie rock band of the 90’s, while Nirvana is remembered as one of the best bands of the 90’s period. People remember the amazing experiences they had with these bands and the ways they helped them retool their lives and deal with corporate America. Even after Nirvana ‘sold out’ Cobain remained disillusioned and distant. He never gave in completely to the society that had accepted him with open arms. These bands will forever be remembered as pioneers and soldiers of the forgotten rock.