Nirvana | Promotional poster for "Nevermind," signed by the band

Nirvana

A signed promotional poster for Nevermind, signed by the band

Poster (1,016 x 1,016 mm). Mounted on foam core, signed by all three members of the band "autograph by Kurt," "Kris A Novoselic," "And me Dave," as well as "Spencer Elden | The Nirvana Baby" in black marker; minor stain at at center, lower right corner just bumped, verso with remnants of previous adhesive and abrasions, minor indentations at edges where previously mounted or clipped.

A large, band-signed promotional poster for Nirvana's most acclaimed album, Nevermind.

Featuring one of the rock's most memorable images, the poster for Nevermind depicts Spencer Elden as a naked 4-month-old, submerged in water, swimming towards a dollar bill attached to a fish hook. While the image has been interpreted by fans as a metaphor for the band being reeled in by corporate rock’s big bucks, Geffen Records art director Robert Fisher claims that Nirvana’s lead singer-guitarist Kurt Cobain simply thought the image of a baby underwater would make a cool album cover.

With over 30 million copies sold, Nevermind is one of the biggest albums in music history. Released on 24 September 1991, Nevermind was Nirvana's second studio album, and first under a major label, DGC Records. The album was an unexpected critical and commercial success, reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 on 11 January 1992—just three and a half months after its release—and selling nearly 300,000 copies a week. Its lead single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," was largely responsible for the album's sudden growth with its anarchist video being in hot rotation on MTV. It quickly reached the top 10 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Three other singles on the album, "Come as You Are," "In Bloom," and "Lithium," were also released.

The success of Nevermind made Nirvana one of the most iconic bands of its time. The album brought grunge and alternative rock to a mainstream audience, ushering in a more serious era of hard rock, and ending the reign of hair metal. It is also credited with sparking a resurgence of interest in punk culture among Generation X fueled by the increasing reach of MTV, and became seminal to the counterculture of the 1990s.