NIRVANA's Surviving Members Reunite To Accept 'Video Vanguard Award' At 2026 MTV VMAs

The surviving members of NIRVANA — Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear — were honored with MTV's Video Vanguard Award on Sunday, September 27 at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. PUBLIC ENEMY's Chuck D presented the award — which recognizes artists' legacies as music video innovators — to Grohl, Novoselic and Smear, and a video compilation of NIRVANA's iconic music videos and archival footage of late NIRVANA frontman Kurt Cobain was shown.

In his acceptance speech, Novoselic said: "Thank you so much to NIRVANA's fans around the world and to everyone at MTV. This award brings back so many memories of making those videos. We saw the dystopian pep rally with anarchist cheerleaders, our version of an Ed Sullivan's TV appearance, performing in a 'Wizard Of Oz'-like Field Of Poppies, and so many more."

He continued: "The ideas for those videos, all grew out of the vision of one of the greatest artists of all time, Kurt Cobain. Kurt was one of one. None of us could have imagined that our band, our sound or our aesthetic would mean so much to so many people. But ultimately, the music had a life of its own. It charted its own course. NIRVANA continues to resonate so deeply because people are still hungry for authenticity or something real, something uncompromising. Something that tells you it’s just okay to come as you are. Kurt would have loved that legacy. Thank you all so much."

NIRVANA, which filmed seven music videos, including clips for "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Come As You Are", "In Bloom" and "Heart-Shaped Box", before Cobain's 1994 death, became the first band to receive MTV's Video Vanguard Award since DURAN DURAN in 2003.

In his introduction, Chuck D praised the members of NIRVANA as always staying "true to their vision. Their sound was loud, beautiful, daringly open," he said. "Their lyrics were poetic, raw, and deeply human. Their music videos defined an era. They were completely original and always fearless at a time when the status quo kind of got to the point of being formulaic."

In making the announcement that NIRVANA would receive the award on September 9, MTV noted in its Instagram post: "This day in 1992, NIRVANA took to the VMAs stage for the first time — shaping music, culture and MTV forever."

NIRVANA is the ninth band to receive the Video Vanguard Award, following THE BEATLES (1984),BON JOVI (1991),GUNS N' ROSES (1992),THE ROLLING STONES (1994),R.E.M. (1995),BEASTIE BOYS (1998),U2 (2001) and DURAN DURAN (2003).

NIRVANA won "Best Alternative Video" at the VMAs with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in 1992, "In Bloom" in 1993 and "Heart-Shaped Box" in 1994.

The 2026 VMAs were broadcast live on CBS and simulcast on MTV.

NIRVANA's breakout hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit" created a seismic shift in the music universe and a cultural moment in history by heralding the alternative/grunge era of the '90s and becoming one of the most iconic songs and music videos of all time. The Generation X anthem off their sophomore album "Nevermind" turned the underground Seattle based trio of Cobain, Novoselic and Grohl overnight into the biggest band in the world. The song delivered a call to arms for teenage rebellion that was punctuated by the intensity of Cobain's unforgettable performance in the legendary video and its powerful imagery of anarchy and alienation that would later define the grunge revolution. The video depicting a high school pep rally that turns into a mosh pit frenzy quietly debuted September 29, 1991 on MTV's "120 Minutes" and stratospherically propelled the band into superstardom with "Nevermind" turning gold only five weeks after its release.

In 2014, NIRVANA was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at a ceremony held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NIRVANA was inducted by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe. Surviving members Grohl and Novoselic, along with Smear, performed four tracks with guest vocalists, including St. Vincent, Lorde, SONIC YOUTH's Kim Gordon and Joan Jett.