Nirvana‘s iconic 1991 music video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has just surpassed two billion views on YouTube, after first crossing the one billion milestone back in 2019. The Samuel Bayer-directed clip features the late Kurt Cobain, Krist Noveselic, and Dave Grohl performing at a pep rally in a high school gym, while surrounded by anarchist cheerleaders and moshing young music fans. The clip helped launch Nirvana to global superstardom upon its MTV debut, leading to them being named Best New Artist and Best Alternative Group at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. Other rock acts that have also reached the two billion milestone include Twenty One Pilots (“Stressed Out,” “Heathens”), Imagine Dragons (“Believer,” “Thunder”), Guns N’ Roses (“November Rain”) and Linkin Park (“Numb”). “Smells Like Teen Spirit” topped Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart two months after its release, and helped Nirvana’s Nevermind dethrone Michael Jackson‘s Dangerous at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1992. (Billboard)
