Grunge: More than Just Nirvana Quiz

Answer: William DuVall

Like many grunge musicians, the raspy-voiced Layne Staley had struggled with drug addiction. On 19th April 2002, his accountants were concerned that no money had been withdrawn from his bank account in two weeks and informed his former manager, Susan Silver, who in turn informed Staley's mother. Staley's mother went to his flat and heard his usually quiet cat Sadie meowing; concerned, she, her ex-husband and the police entered the flat and found Staley dead. Toxicology reports confirmed he had taken a mix of heroin and cocaine known as a 'speedball', and that he had died on 5th April, the anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death.

William DuVall joined Alice in Chains in 2006 as the new vocalist and shared lead vocal duties with lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell. He had previously won an award for Dionne Farris' 'I Know', which he co-wrote, and also played with Comes with the Fall. (Sean Kinney was Alice in Chains' drummer, and Mike Inez replaced original bassist Mike Starr in 1993.)

Answer: Silverchair

Silverchair, one of Australia's most notable grunge bands, were originally called the Innocent Criminals, but changed their name when their demo of 'Tomorrow' won a national competition and they made a video for the song. They are named after 'The Silver Chair'. (I made up the other names, but I think they'd be good names for a rock band.) They originally claimed their name came from a confused radio request mixing 'Sliver' by Nirvana and 'Berlin Chair' by fellow Aussies You Am I. Johns was only 15 when the band were signed.

In 1996, the band were blamed for Brian Bassett and Nicholaus McDonald's murder of Bassett's parents and brother the previous year, with the defence claiming Bassett and McDonald listened to 'Israel's Son' and were inspired by it. However, the defence was rejected and Silverchair's manager put out a statement that they did not condone acts of violence.

Answer: Fantomas

After Rage Against the Machine singer Zack de la Rocha left the group in 2001, the remaining three members recruited Cornell as a singer at the suggestion of producer Rick Rubin, and Audioslave were born. They released three albums, 'Audioslave', 'Out of Exile' and 'Revelations'. Alice Mudgarden was a collaboration between Cornell, Alice in Chains, and Mark Arm of Mudhoney on 'Right Turn' on Alice in Chains' 1992 EP 'Sap'. Finally, Temple of the Dog was a supergroup featuring Cornell and future Pearl Jam members Matt Cameron, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard. They were formed as a tribute to Mother Love Bone frontman Andrew Wood.

Soundgarden originally split in 1997 and reformed in 2010. However, Cornell died by suicide in 2017 and Soundgarden subsequently split. They briefly reunited in 2019 for a tribute concert in Cornell's honour, and in 2024 under the name of Nudedragons for a benefit concert, with Shaina Shepherd on lead vocals.

Answer: Kristen Pfaff

1994 was Courtney Love's annus horribilis. Not only did Kurt Cobain die of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in April that year, but bassist Kristin Pfaff - who had played on Hole's second and, in my opinion, best album 'Live Through This' - was found dead in her bath of a heroin overdose. Pfaff had originally learned to play the piano and cello, but taught herself the bass while living in Minneapolis, where she played with Janitor Joe before replacing Leslie Hardy as Hole's bassist. Pfaff's death was attributed to drugs due to syringes and other drug paraphernalia being found on the bathroom floor. Guitarist Eric Erlandson was the last person to see her alive.

Canadian bassist Melissa auf der Maur replaced Pfaff as Hole bassist later that year, after meeting Love and drummer Patty Schemel, and played on their 1998 album 'Celebrity Skin' before leaving to join the Smashing Pumpkins. In a case of six degrees of separation, Corgan had collaborated with Hole on 'Celebrity Skin', co-writing several songs.

Answer: Veruca Salt

Veruca Salt were notable for having two lead singers who also played guitar, Nina Gordon and Louise Post. Although they had wanted an all-female rhythm section, they ended up with Steve Lack on bass and Post's brother Jim Shapiro on drums (although they did have female bassists and drummers at various points when Shapiro and Lack had left the band). Their signature hit was 1994's 'Seether', with Gordon's vocal being slightly more predominant.

Gordon left in 1998 after falling out with Post, and the album 'Resolver' was their first without her; the song 'Born Entertainer' is thought to be about her. Post was also temporarily part of Courtney Love's failed all-female supergroup, the name of which is a bit rude and cannot be printed here, along with new Veruca Salt bassist Gina Crosley. However, the original line-up reunited in 2013 and released their fifth album, the wonderful 'Ghost Notes', two years later.

Answer: Serial Mom

If you've seen 'Serial Mom', with Kathleen Turner as murderous housewife Beverly Sutphin, you might remember the scene where Beverly confronts at a gig and sets her son's friend Scotty on fire. The band playing are L7, under the name of Camel Lips, and the song they're playing is 'Gas Chamber'. The line-up in the film consisted of singer and guitarist Donita Sparks, guitarist Suzi Gardiner, bassist Jennifer Finch (who rams Scotty with her bass when he runs onstage), and drummer Dee Plakas.

Finch, incidentally, has some overlap with other women in this quiz. Before L7, she was a member of Sugar Babydoll aka Pagan Babies, along with Courtney Love and Kat Bjelland. Janis Tanaka not only replaced Finch in Sugar Babydoll, but in L7 as well when she left in 1996 due to her father's death. Finch also played bass in the video for 'Doll Parts', following Kristen Pfaff's death.

Answer: Mark Lanegan

Mark Lanegan is arguably more well-known as a solo artist, but before that he was fronting the Screaming Trees (or 'Bonkers Conkers', as Liam Gallagher called them). He was originally the drummer, but was allegedly so bad they made him sing instead. They released their debut album 'Clairvoyance' in 1986 and their breakthrough album, 'Sweet Oblivion' in 1992; the previous album, 'Uncle Anaesthesia', had been produced by Chris Cornell. After going solo, Lanegan collaborated with Queens of the Stone Age, before becoming a full-time member until 2014; frontman Josh Homme and bassist Nick Oliveri returned the favour by appearing on Lanegan's 2004 album 'Bubblegum'.

Lanegan, who died in 2022, collaborated with former Belle & Sebastian cellist and singer Isobel Campbell, who was the Nancy Sinatra to his Lee Hazlewood, between 2004 and 2011. He also duetted with Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli as the Gutter Twins, while Harvey guested on 'Hit the City'.

Answer: Bruise Violet

Although Bjelland has denied that 'Bruise Violet' is about Courtney Love, the two singers had an ongoing rivalry, with Bjelland claiming that Love copied her look of smeared make-up, baby doll dresses and Mary Jane shoes. They had previously played together in a band called Pagan Babies, and Bjelland also co-wrote 'I Think That I Would Die' on 'Live Through This'. Babes in Toyland were notable for having a very minimalist sound, often with lyrics inspired by Shakespeare ('Toil & Trouble') or fairytales ('Handsome & Gretel'). Bjelland also produced (in my view, underrated) British all-female indie band Angelica.

(Incidentally, I saw them at Primavera Sound in 2015 and they had technical difficulties, so drummer Lori Barbero kept the crowd entertained with bad jokes while Bjelland sorted her guitar out.)

Answer: Neil Young

At the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, Neil Young came onstage with Pearl Jam to play 'Rockin' in the Free World', and they did it again in 2011 in Toronto. Young and Pearl Jam had played at Bobfest, a Bob Dylan tribute, and a benefit concert for the Bridge School, a school for disabled children founded by Young's wife Pegi, in 1992, and Young and frontman Eddie Vedder became friends. Pearl Jam have covered 'Rockin' in the Free World' on multiple occasions, along with other Young songs, and Young bailed Pearl Jam out and took over on vocals when Vedder fell ill at a gig in San Francisco in 1995. Members of Pearl Jam also played on Young's 1995 album 'Mirror Ball'.

(If you like Neil Young and/or Pearl Jam, I'd recommend watching the 1993 performance because it is absolutely brilliant.)

Answer: Cool as You

Camden Town's Cay were a short-lived band, albeit one very hyped by the music media in the late '90s, especially 'Kerrang!' (they won the Best British Newcomer at the 'Kerrang!' Awards in 1999) and 'Melody Maker'. They took their name from 'Cool as You', one of their demo tracks, during a meeting with a record company. Anet Mook, their Dutch singer, had a vocal style reminiscent of Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, and the band cited Nirvana, Sonic Youth and Mudhoney as influences, along with Diana Ross (no, really). They released one album, 'Nature Creates Freaks', in 1999, and then disappeared off the radar after releasing a final single, 'Resurrexit', in 2000.

Mook and guitarist Nicky Olofsson had fallen out with bassist Tom Harrison and drummer Mark Bullock, both of whom left in 2000 and were quickly replaced. Mook died in 2011 after being hit by a train; Bullock wrote a blog about the band and why they fell out, stating that Mook and Olofsson had both had problems with drugs and this had caused a schism in the band, along with money issues.