MTV Unplugged in New York

MTV Unplugged in New York
Inside a TV-shaped box, band members in a stage with musical instruments with candles, stargazer lilies, and stage lights glaring upwards. Audience members are seen in the background. The band's name is in the image, while on a white background, is the album's title. The MTV Logo is seen on the bottom left.
Live album by
ReleasedNovember 1, 1994 (1994-11-01) (CD/CS) November 20, 2007 (2007-11-20) (DVD)
RecordedNovember 18, 1993 (1993-11-18)
VenueSony Music, New York City
Genre
Length53:50 (CD/CS)
66:28 (DVD)
LabelDGC
Producer
Nirvana chronology
In Utero
(1993)
MTV Unplugged in New York
(1994)
Singles
(1995)
Nirvana video chronology
Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind
(2005)
MTV Unplugged in New York
(2007)
Live at Reading
(2009)
Singles from MTV Unplugged in New York
  1. "About a Girl"
    Released: October 24, 1994

MTV Unplugged in New York is the first live album by the American rock band Nirvana, released by DGC Records on November 1, 1994, nearly seven months following the suicide of Kurt Cobain. It was part of the cable television series MTV Unplugged and features a mostly acoustic performance. It was recorded at Sony Music Studios in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, on November 18, 1993.

The show was directed by Beth McCarthy and aired on the cable television network MTV on December 16, 1993. In a break with MTV Unplugged tradition, Nirvana used some electric amplification and effects, and played mainly lesser-known material and covers, with performances of songs by the Vaselines, David Bowie, Lead Belly and Meat Puppets. They were joined by the rhythm guitarist Pat Smear and the cellist Lori Goldston, alongside Meat Puppets members Cris and Curt Kirkwood for some songs.

MTV Unplugged was released after plans to release the performance as part of a live album, Verse Chorus Verse, were abandoned. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and was certified 8x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2020.[1] It won the Best Alternative Music Performance at the 1996 Grammy Awards, Nirvana's only Grammy Award. It was released on DVD in 2007.

  1. ^ Search "Nirvana" -RIAA Archived October 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine riaa.com. Retrieved April 17, 2013.