20 most-played Nirvana songs revealed to mark Kurt Cobain’s 50th birthday

Monday, February 20th, 2017 2:38pm

On the day Kurt Cobain would have turned 50, the most played Nirvana songs in the UK have been revealed.

The PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited), a performance rights organisation that collects royalties for performers and record labels, unveiled the 20 most popular Nirvana anthems on television and radio earlier this morning.

Unsurprisingly, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ comes out on top with ‘Come As You Are’, ‘Lithium’, ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ and ‘In Bloom’ making up the rest of the top five.

A total of three cover versions also make the Top 20 - David Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, Molly’s Lips by The Vaselines plus Nirvana’s version of Shocking Blue’s ‘Love Buzz’ that served as their debut single.

“Kurt Cobain was one of the most visionary figures in music in the late 1980s and early 1990s”, says PPL’s Head Of Music Reporting Services Tim Silver.

“He inspired countless young people all over the world to start learning an instrument and to have the confidence to begin writing their own music. On what would have been his 50th birthday, we are delighted to be able to honour him with a chart of the 20 most-played Nirvana songs on radio and TV. There are a lot of their best-known tracks in there but also one or two curveballs as well”.

The full Top 20 is as follows:

1. Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. Come As You Are
3. Lithium
4. Heart-Shaped Box
5. In Bloom
6. The Man Who Sold The World (MTV Unplugged)
7. All Apologies
8. About A Girl
9. Aneurysm
10. On A Plan
11. Drain You
12. Stay Away
13. Breed
14. Love Buzz
15. Serve The Servants
16. Lounge Act
17. Something In The Way
18. Molly’s Lips
19. Dumb
20. Territorial Pissings