Being on every radio station ever.

I don't remember ten minutes listening to the radio during my childhood when Nirvana wouldn't get a spot. That might have changed by now (I don't listen to the radio anymore), but God yes, Nirvana IS mainstream.

i know...that nirvana is mainstream. and they dont play grunge anymore on the radio. its not popular anymore. no one knows (im in highschool) at my school what grunge music even is..

Funny that it would still be played on mainstream radio then.

aside from the fact that you're just as likely to hear nirvana / pearl jam / alice in chains / soundgarden on classic rock radio in the middle of the afternoon as you are to hear led zeppelin / aerosmith / pink floyd / genesis?

grunge / alternative rock was THE mainstream about 12-15 years ago. period. it's not quite as predominant in the mainstream now but there are still a fair amount of throwbacks still trying to rock out like it's 1994 (ie: anyone associated with chad kroeger / mark tremonti). it might not be as trendy in your highschool as it was back when i was in grade 11 but thanks to nirvana, grunge rock is very much part of the mainstream history of rock music.

ps. we're not you're highschool peers and we REALLY don't care about them.

I'm curious why you think the student body at your high school defines what is and isn't popular.

Frank Sinatra wasn't popular at my high school but it doesn't change the fact that he's most definitely mainstream.

You're too young to be able to comprehend how popular Nirvana's music became. It was, as Time said, "all the rage." It doesn't matter if kids at your high school listen to grunge or not. It was popular during the nineties and is still popular today - whether you recognize it or not.

These days its post-grunge. But in the 90's it became a worldwide phenomenom. It's not big to hear now, but at the time, Nevermind replaced Michael Jackson at #1 on the billboard 200!!!

at the time ANY new big hit would have replaced michael jackson. 'bad' was popular when it came out but it didn't have the lasting effect of 'thriller' nor did it have nearly as many hit singles. the title track was good (even if the video was a total ripoff of 'beat it') but none of the other singles matched its popularity. it was only a matter of time before being replaced.

The album it replaced was actually Dangerous. So no mean feat.

The Michael Jackson album that was current at the time was Dangerous not Bad.

ETA: ToeAndno beat me to it.