51 Rarely Seen Backstage Photos of Grunge Bands in the 90s

It was the Seattle sound that became a national movement—a cacophony of distorted rock and screaming feedback that came to define an entire generation of American youth. Their shared angst, greasy hair, and metaphorical middle fingers to the man all imbued into raw, holy noise. (Plus a hell of a lot of flannel.) Led by yowlers like Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots, and, of course, the almighty Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, it was a genre as much as it was a lifestyle. But as quickly as it began, it ended, dying alongside Cobain on April 5, 1994. Here, these rarely 52 photos capture—we had to—that teen spirit.

Greg Graffin of Bad Religion, L7, Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots and Rob Zombie of White Zombie attend Rock for Choice in 1993.

Candlebox in Lowlands, Biddinghuizen, Netherlands in August 1994.

Screaming Trees (including Mark Lanegan on left), backstage at the Fulham Greyhound in London, United Kingdom, 1989.

Courtney Love's Hole and Guru Gurmuck Kaur Khalsa in 1990.

Alice In Chains photographed in New York in 1990.

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, portrait during an interview in Roppongi Prince Hotel, Tokyo, Japan in February 1992.

KISS singer and guitarist Gene Simmons poses backstage with Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland at Rock for Choice benefit at Hollywood Palladium in April 1993 in Los Angeles, California.

Alice in Chains. Left to right Jerry Cantrell, guitar; Layne Staley, vocals, Michael Starr, bass and Sean Kinney in Hollywood for rehearsal July 1991.

Melissa Auf der Maur and Courtney Love of Hole attend The 1998 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Smashing Pumpkins, portrait, Notting Hill, London, UK, 1992. Left to right: James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlin, Billy Corgan and D'arcy Wretzky.

Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Dave Abbruzzese attend the Pinkpop Festival, Landgraaf, Holland in 1992.

Chris Cornell performing with Soundgarden at Lollapalooza at Montage Mountain, Pennsylvania on August 15, 1992.

Neil Young and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam attend the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles.

Stephen Malkmus of Pavement holds still in dim light after the concert featuring Pavement, Mudhoney, and Sonic Youth on September 26, 1992 at Castaic Lake, California.

Smashing Pumpkins as they pose in a photo studio, Chicago, Illinois, May 10, 1991.

Van Conner, bassist of Screaming Trees, keeps a watchful eye on excited fans who made their way backstage to see Eddie Vedder (R) after Rock for Choice concert at the Hollywood Palladium on January 23, 1993 in Los Angeles.

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, lying in bed wearing pajamas in Roppongi Prince Hotel in Tokyo, Japan, during an interview, 19th December 1992.

Kevin Martin (L) and Candlebox pose at The Fillmore on July 23, 1994 in San Francisco, California.

Nirvana at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards - Rehearsals at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California.

Kurt Cobain photographed in 1990.

Eddie Vedder photographed in 1990.

Soundgarden in Chicago in 1992.

Layne Staley with Alice in Chains during filming of one of their videos in Los Angeles, CA. in August 1990.

Soundgarden members Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd pose during a photo shoot held in 1997 in Seattle, Washington.

Soundgarden members Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd pose during a photo shoot held in 1997 in Seattle, Washington.

Dave Grohl, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana attend the 10th Annual MTV Video Music Awards in Universal City, CA.

Alice in Chains photographed in 1990.

Ron Wood, Keith Richards and Stone Temple Pilots on the Voodoo Lounge Tour in 1994 in Toronto, Ont. Canada.

Stone Temple Pilots at Club USA in NYC in 1993.

Dave Grohl recording in Hilversum Studios in the Netherlands in 1991.

Alice in Chains in Chicago, Il. in 1990.

Pearl Jam photographed in Amsterdam in 1992.

Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana attend the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, CA.

Scott Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots during 1993 MTV Movie Awards at Sony Studios in Culver City, California.

Robert DeLeo and Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots attend Rock for Choice in 1993.

Keith Richards backstage with Mike McCready, of Pearl Jam, at the Academy in NYC on December 31, 1992.

Keith Richards backstage with Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder at the Academy in NYC on December 31, 1992.

Mudhoney pose for a studio portrait, UK, circa 1992. Clockwise from top left: Mark Arm, Steve Turner, Dan Peters and Matt Lukin.

Courtney Love poses for a photo with her band Hole at the press podium backstage at the 12th annual MTV Awards on September 7, 1995 in New York City.

Nirvana, backstage in Frankfurt, Germany in November 1991.

Smashing Pumpkins, group portrait, including Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, James Iha and Darcy Wretzsky, Notting Hill, London, United Kingdom, 1992.

Smashing Pumpkins, group portrait, including Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, James Iha and Darcy Wretzsky, Notting Hill, London, United Kingdom, 1992.

Alice in Chains on stage at Lollapalooza in 1993.

Group portrait of American grunge band Tad, Notting Hill, London, United Kingdom, April 1991.

Group portrait of American grunge band Tad, Notting Hill, London, United Kingdom, April 1991.

Eddie Vedder backstage during Rock for Choice concert at The Hollywood Palladium on January 23, 1993 in Los Angeles.

Screaming Trees, Mark Lanegan, Gary Lee Conner, Van Conner, and Barrett Martin in Belgium in 1993.

Chris Cornell (right) and guitarist Kim Thayil of Soundgarden pose for a portrait on December 1, 1993 in New York City.

Stephen Malkmus backstage at Castaic Lake Natural Amphitheater after Pavement's set and before Mudhoney and Sonic Youth perform on September 26, 1992 in Castaic, California.

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, lying in bed wearing pyjamas and smoking a cigarette in Roppongi Prince Hotel in Tokyo, Japan, during an interview, 19th December 1992.

Soundgarden photo shoot in Tokyo, Japan in February 1994.