Nirvana were formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington. The pair met in 1985, and recruited drummer Aaron Burckhard, however, within a few months, Burckhard was fired from the band, temporarily replaced by Dale Crover of the Melvins, who played on the band's first demos. Dave Foster then began a brief tenure as the band's drummer. The band went through a series of names, including Skid Row, Pen Cap Chew, and Ted Ed Fred, until settling on Nirvana in early 1988, chosen because, according to Cobain, "I wanted a name that was kind of beautiful or nice and pretty instead of a mean, raunchy punk rock name like the Angry Samoans". Nirvana played their first show under their new name in March1988, and settled on a drummer, Chad Channing, shortly after. Their first release was the single "Love Buzz/Big Cheese" in 1988 on Seattle independent record label Sub Pop, followed by debut album “Bleach”, produced by Jack Endino.

In April 1990, the band began working with producer Butch Vig at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin on recording a follow-up to “Bleach”. During the sessions, Kurt and Krist became disenchanted with Channing's drumming, and Channing expressed frustration at not being actively involved in songwriting - not long after the sessions were complete, Channing was gone from the band. Dale Crover again provided temporary cover, until they hired Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters, with whom they recorded the song "Sliver". A few weeks later, the Melvins’ Buzz Osborne introduced them to Dave Grohl, who was looking for a new band following the sudden break-up of D.C. hardcore punks Scream. A few days after arriving in Seattle, Novoselic and Cobain auditioned Grohl, with Novoselic later stating, "We knew in 2 minutes that he was the right drummer."

Disenchanted with Sub Pop, and following recommendations by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, Nirvana signed to DGC Records in 1990, and begun to record it’s major label debut, “Nevermind”. Butch Vig was retained for production duties, but rather than using Vig's Madison studio, they moved to Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, Los Angeles. Slayer mixer Andy Wallace was brought in to create the final mix, but after the album's release Nirvana expressed dissatisfaction with the polished sound the mixer had given “Nevermind”. Initially, DGC Records was hoping to sell 250,000 copies (the same level they had achieved with Sonic Youth's “Goo”), however, by Christmas 1991, “Nevermind” was selling 400,000 copies a week in the US, and in January 1992, it reached number 1 on the Billboard chart (replacing Michael Jackson's “Dangerous”).

Nirvana released “Incesticide”, a collection of rarities and B-sides, in December 1992. It contained songs from previously released singles and EPs, including "Sliver" and "Dive", as well as material from the band's sessions for the BBC, including "Been a Son", "Aneurysm", and covers of songs by The Vaselines and Devo.

For 1993's “In Utero”, the band brought in producer Steve Albini (who had worked on the Pixies’ album “Surfer Rosa”) and the album was recorded and mixed in 2 weeks at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. However, the band were unhappy with certain aspects of Albini's mixes - they thought the bass levels were too low, and Cobain felt that "Heart-Shaped Box" and "All Apologies" did not sound ‘perfect’. Longtime R.E.M. producer Scott Litt was called in to help remix those 2 songs, with Cobain adding additional instrumentation and backing vocals. “In Utero” debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart in September 1993. In November 1993, Nirvana performed for MTV Unplugged, with the performance shown on MTV in December 1993.

In early 1994, the band embarked on a European tour. Cobain was diagnosed with bronchitis and severe laryngitis, after a show in Munich, and the following night’s show (also in Munich) was cancelled. In Rome, 3 days later, Courtney Love, Cobain’s wife, found Cobain unconscious in their hotel room and he was rushed to hospital, where a doctor later told a press conference that Cobain had reacted to a combination of prescription Rohypnol and alcohol. The rest of the tour was canceled, including a planned leg in the UK. In the ensuing weeks, Cobain's heroin addiction resurfaced, and he was convinced to admit himself into drug rehabilitation. However, after less than a week in rehab, Cobain climbed over the wall of the facility and took a plane back to Seattle. A week later, on Friday, April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head at his Seattle home, effectively dissolving Nirvana.

Several Nirvana albums have been released since Cobain's death. The first came in November 1994 with the release of the band's performance for MTV Unplugged, entitled “MTV Unplugged in New York”. 2 weeks later, a video compilation of Nirvana performances, “Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!” was released - Cobain himself had compiled a significant part of the video, which documented much of the Nevermind tour. A live CD representing a compilation of Nirvana concert recordings, was released in October 1996, entitled “From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah”. A compilation album, “Nirvana”, was released in October 2002, following much legal wrangling, containing a previously unreleased song, "You Know You're Right" (which topped radio playlists around the world in 2002), and also hit singles from their 3 studio albums as well as several alternate mixes and recordings of familiar Nirvana songs. A box set, “With the Lights Out”, followed in November 2004, containing a vast array of early Cobain demos, rough rehearsal recordings, and live tracks recorded throughout the band's history. A best-of-the-box compilation entitled “Sliver: The Best of the Box” was released in late 2005, the CD compiling 19 tracks from the box set plus 3 previously unreleased tracks, including a version of the song "Spank Thru" from the 1985 Fecal Matter demo tape. “Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!” was re-released on DVD in 2006, and a full, uncut DVD of “MTV Unplugged in New York” was also released in 2007.

Both surviving members of Nirvana remained musically active. Not long after Cobain's death, Dave Grohl recorded a series of demos that eventually became the debut album for his main project, Foo Fighters. Their 2005 album ”In Your Honour” features a song called "Friend of a Friend", which Grohl wrote in 1990 about his first encounters with Cobain and Novoselic. In addition, Grohl has occasionally drummed for bands such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Mike Watt, Queens of the Stone Age, Tenacious D, and Nine Inch Nails, and he also recorded an album of metal songs featuring many of his favourite early-80s metal singers under the name Probot.
After the end of Nirvana, Novoselic formed Sweet 75. Later, he founded Eyes Adrift with Curt Kirkwood (formerly of the Meat Puppets) and Bud Gaugh (formerly of Sublime). He also performed in a one-off band called the No WTO Combo with Kim Thayil of Soundgarden and Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys that coincided with the WTO Meeting of 1999. In December 2006, Novoselic replaced bass player Bruno DeSmartas in the band Flipper for a UK/Ireland tour and several US shows. Novoselic also became a political activist, founding the political action committee JAMPAC to support musicians' rights. In 2004, he released a book titled “Of Grunge and Government: Let's Fix This Broken Democracy”, which covered his musical past as well as his political endeavors.

Nirvana have sold over 50 million albums worldwide, over half of which have been in the US.