Nirvana Quiz: Guess the Song & Test Your Trivia

A Nirvana quiz turns on two tests most bands never face: sorting Cobain's songs from the grunge pack he launched, and naming the three albums by how they were recorded. Guess the Nirvana song from 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and 'Come as You Are' to 'Lithium' and 'In Bloom', then test your trivia on the murky Sub Pop 'Bleach', the polished 'Nevermind' from producer Butch Vig and the raw 'In Utero'. A moody clip could be Pearl Jam, so see how well you really know Nirvana before the chorus lands.

Main genreRock (grunge)

Active1987 to 1994 (1990s)

Formed1987, Aberdeen, Washington

MembersKurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl

Best-known songs to guessSmells Like Teen Spirit, Come as You Are, Lithium, In Bloom, Heart-Shaped Box

Deep cuts fans missAbout a Girl, Drain You, Aneurysm, Something in the Way, Dumb

Albums to tell apartBleach (1989, Sub Pop), Nevermind (1991), In Utero (1993)

Related artistsPearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead

Quiz difficultyEasy on the singles, hard on the scene look-alikes

Start your solo quiz

Name as many tracks as you can from short audio clips. The faster you answer, the more you score.

10 questions4 answers each

Guess the Nirvana Song from the First Chord

The Nevermind singles give themselves away the moment the guitar kicks in, but a moody grunge clip could be Pearl Jam just as easily. See how fast you can pin the song on Nirvana.

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Come as You Are

Lithium

In Bloom

Heart-Shaped Box

About a Girl

Drain You

Aneurysm

Nirvana Trivia the Grunge Faithful Love

A deodorant scrawled on a wall that named 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', an engineer who refused the producer credit on In Utero, and an Unplugged set stacked with covers. The questions here live off the singles.

✦The title of Smells Like Teen Spirit came from a message a friend scrawled on Cobain's wall, a reference to a deodorant brand he did not recognize at the time.

✦In Utero was recorded by Steve Albini, who is usually credited as an engineer rather than a producer because of how he prefers to work.

✦On MTV Unplugged in New York, Nirvana leaned on covers, including David Bowie's The Man Who Sold the World and Lead Belly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night, which fool players who assume every song is an original.

✦Dave Grohl joined Nirvana on drums in 1990, after several earlier drummers, and later built Foo Fighters once the band ended.

✦Their debut Bleach was recorded cheaply for the Seattle label Sub Pop in 1989, a world away from the polished sound of Nevermind two years later.

How Well Do You Know Nirvana's Three Albums?

Bleach, Nevermind and In Utero were recorded worlds apart, from a cheap Sub Pop debut to the raw sound of Steve Albini. Start with the hits, then see which album trips you up.

The Nevermind singles everyone names

Start with the easy points. The rock radio staples from Nevermind are the ones almost anyone can place: Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come as You Are, Lithium, In Bloom and Polly. If a Nirvana quiz opens with one of these, it is handing you a point before the catalog gets deeper.

Nirvana or another Seattle band?

This is where the quiz sharpens. Nirvana defined a whole Seattle sound, so a moody, distorted guitar clip could just as easily be Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains or Stone Temple Pilots. Telling Cobain's band apart from the scene it inspired is the single trickiest round, and it catches out players who only know the singles.

Which album is playing?

Nirvana made only three studio albums, and each was recorded to sound completely different. Bleach (1989) is murky and cheap, cut for the Seattle label Sub Pop. Nevermind (1991) is glossy and radio-ready thanks to producer Butch Vig. In Utero (1993), recorded with Steve Albini, is raw and abrasive on purpose. Naming the record from its texture alone is a real test.

The Unplugged covers that fool you

The final curveball is MTV Unplugged in New York. Half the set was covers, not Nirvana originals, including David Bowie's The Man Who Sold the World, Lead Belly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night and three Meat Puppets songs. Players who assume every track is a Cobain composition give away the point.

Nirvana Quiz FAQ

What makes the Nirvana quiz harder than it looks?

Two things. Nirvana inspired a whole Seattle scene, so a distorted clip could be Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice in Chains instead. And their three albums were recorded to sound different, so telling murky Bleach from polished Nevermind and raw In Utero is its own test.

Which Nirvana songs come up most in the quiz?

Expect the Nevermind singles, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come as You Are, Lithium and In Bloom, plus Heart-Shaped Box from In Utero and deeper cuts like About a Girl and Aneurysm that separate the real fans.

Is a clip in the quiz always a Nirvana original?

Not always. Their MTV Unplugged set leaned on covers like David Bowie's The Man Who Sold the World and Lead Belly's Where Did You Sleep Last Night, and sound-alike grunge bands are easy to confuse with the real thing.

Who were the members of Nirvana and where were they from?

Kurt Cobain (vocals, guitar), Krist Novoselic (bass) and Dave Grohl (drums, from 1990). The band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987 and became the center of the Seattle grunge scene.

Is the Nirvana quiz free to play?

Yes. The Nirvana quiz is completely free, needs no account or signup, and plays straight from your browser on phone or desktop.

📚 Sources & methodology

Sources consulted

Wikipedia · AllMusic · Pitchfork · Billboard · Songtrivia editorial team.

Our methodology

Each topic is curated by a Quiz Master with category expertise. Selection crosses cultural impact, chart performance, recognition potential and era variety.