Mark Lanegan says Nirvana are "just as vital now as they were in the '90s"

Mark Lanegan has recalled the time he spent with Kurt Cobain around the ‘Nevermind’ era, and claimed that Nirvana remain “just as vital today” as they were in those early days.

Speaking in a new interview with NME, Lanegan remembered “hanging out” with Cobain in a Seattle hotel room shortly after Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was released in 1991.

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“[MTV] were playing ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ around the clock at the time,” he explained. “[Cobain] got into a heated argument with whoever he was talking to on the phone and pulled the phone cord out of the wall. Right then, ‘Teen Spirit’ came on MTV.

“He grabbed my boot, which was laying between us on the bed, and he threw it at the TV set. It was a perfect strike! It turned the TV off and right at that moment, from three floors down we hear a car going by, and ‘Teen Spirit’ is playing on the car radio!

“That’s when I realised there was no escaping it.”

Asked about Post Malone’s recent live-streamed Nirvana tribute show, Lanegan said it’s “cool” that a contemporary rapper would cover the grunge icons.

“I think Nirvana are still just as vital today as they were then,” he said. “If a rap star is taking the time to do a Nirvana tribute set, that’s pretty badass.”

Meanwhile, Mark Lanegan teamed up with Cold Cave this week to cover Joy Division‘s ‘Isolation’ to honour the 40th anniversary of Ian Curtis‘ death.