Originally Posted by William_the_Bloody

The idea that Nirvana killed hair metal is a myth, and like all myths there is some truth to it.

Grunge did replace hair metal as the choice for rock music, but ultimately it was gangster rap that killed hair metal not grunge.

I'll give you an example. I grew up in Canada in a white working class neighborhood filled with heavy metal rockers with long hair, wearing jean jackets and acid washed jeans. By the early 90's all there little brothers were dressed like homies listening to Snoop Dogg and 2 Pac.

Around this time immigration also drastically changed the racial demographics of the neighborhood with a large amount of Indian (Punjabi) and Asian youths. There choice wasn't Axl Rose or rock in general, it was rap.

Take these two factors into account and it was rap music that killed hair metal, as its generally considered the most dominant genre of the 90's, and is still going relatively strong, where as grunge is now pretty much non existent.