Who First Used the Term ‘Grunge’ to Describe Music?

This article is a collaborative effort, crafted and edited by a team of dedicated professionals.

Contributors: Andranick Tanguiane, Fred Lerdahl,

The term “grunge” was first used in print in the Seattle weekly newspaper The Rocket in a May 21, 1981 article about the local music scene by music editor Chuck Taylor.

The first use of the term ‘grunge’

The term ‘grunge’ was first used in print by Mark Arm, the singer and guitarist of the Seattle band Green River. In an article in the fanzine Desperate Times, Arm used the word to describe the music of Green River and other Seattle bands such as Mudhoney and Soundgarden. After the article was published, other people began using the term to describe the Seattle music scene.

Where the term ‘grunge’ came from

The term “grunge” was first used in print in 1967, in an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about a local band called the Sonics. The author, Dan Keenan, described their sound as “a cross between Chuck Berry andBo Diddley, with a dash of surf and garage”.

The term didn’t gain widespread usage until the early 1990s, when it was used to describe the music of bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains. Grunge music is characterized by its distorted guitars, dark lyrics, and heavy basslines.

The term “grunge” has also been used to describe fashion and lifestyle choices associated with the music scene, such as flannel shirts and Converse sneakers.

Who first used the term ‘grunge’

The term ‘grunge’ was first used to describe a type of rock music originating in Seattle in the 1980s. The music is characterized by its raw, distorted sound and dark, nihilistic lyrics. Grunge bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden became hugely popular in the early 1990s, helping to define a generation. However, the success of grunge was short-lived, and the genre fell out of favor after the suicide of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in 1994.

The meaning of ‘grunge’

The term ‘grunge’ was first used to describe Seattle music in the early 1990s. Grunge is a smelly, dirty, and generally unpleasant style of music. It is characterized by its heavy use of distorted guitars, angry vocals, and dark lyrics.

What ‘grunge’ music sounds like

‘Grunge’ is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Called the “Seattle sound”, grunge bands were noted for their DIY ethic, as well as their heavy, distorted guitars, often played through distortion pedals and amplifiers. Grunge music was also noted for its apathy and disdain for the mainstream music industry and pop culture.

Grunge became commercially successful in the early 1990s, with its popularity then sparking a renewed interest in alternative rock. However, by the late 1990s and early 2000s, grunge bands had largely broken up or faded from view. Some of the most successful grunge bands of all time include Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden.

The fashion associated with ‘grunge’

The fashion associated with grunge was Anti-Fashion in the sense that it was intended to oppose the flashy, over-the-top trends of the 1980s (such as 80s preppies, new wave and glam metal). Grunge fashion is characterized by plaid shirts, ripped jeans, flannel shirts and thrift store clothing. It was popularized by Grunge bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.

The ‘grunge’ scene in Seattle

Kurt Cobain is often credited with being the one who first used the term ‘grunge’ to describe the music scene in Seattle. However, the term was actually first used in a article in the Seattle weekly newspaper, The Rocket, in October of 1987. The article was about the local music scene, and the author used the term to describe the dirty, unpolished sound of the bands he was writing about.

The rise of ‘grunge’ in Seattle

The term ‘grunge’ was first used to describe music in the early 1990s, when a new style of rock emerged from the US Pacific Northwest city of Seattle. Grunge music was characterized by its raw, unpolished sound and its focus on personal, often dark lyrics. The grunge aesthetic was also evident in the fashion and lifestyle of many grunge musicians, who adopted a more ‘DIY’ approach to both their music and their look.

Grunge became a national phenomenon in the early 1990s, thanks in part to the success of Seattle-based bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Grunge music helped to redefine what was mainstream in the US, and its popularity signaled a shift away from the polished sounds of 1980s popular music.

Despite its brief moment in the spotlight, grunge left a lasting impression on both music and fashion. The DIY aesthetic of grunge has since been adopted by many subcultures and alternative scenes, while the sound of grunge continues to influence musicians today.

The ‘grunge’ sound and style

The term “grunge” was first used in print in the Seattle music fanzine Sub Pop in an article about Green River. Green River was a band fronted by Mark Arm, who would go on to be the frontman of Mudhoney. The article, titled “Green River: Dry as a Bone”, was written by Bruce Pavitt and published in the November/December 1986 issue of Sub Pop.

In the early 1990s, grunge became a global phenomenon with the success of Nirvana’s album Nevermind and Pearl Jam’s album Ten. Grunge fashion also became popular around this time, characterized by plaid shirts, ripped jeans, and flannel shirts.

Despite its popularity, grunge was often criticized for its supposed lack of innovation and for being “derivative” of other styles of music. In retrospect, many have praised grunge for its role in revitalizing rock music and for its influence on subsequent generations of musicians.

The legacy of ‘grunge’

The term ‘grunge’ was first used to describe a type of rock music originating from Seattle in the 1980s. Grunge music is characterized by its abrasive, distorted sound and its anger-filled lyrics. The genre became widely popular in the early 1990s with the release of Nirvana’s album Nevermind. Grunge music has had a lasting impact on popular culture and has influenced many subsequent music genres.

The influence of ‘grunge’ on subsequent music genres

In 1988, the Seattle music scene was flourishing. The city was home to a number of up-and-coming bands that would later go on to achieve global fame, including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. It was also around this time that the term “grunge” began to be used to describe the punk/metal/rock hybrid sound that these and other Seattle-based bands were creating.

While “grunge” initially started out as a descriptor for a specific type of music, it soon became clear that the grunge movement was about much more than just the sound. Grunge fashion, for example, became hugely popular in the early 1990s, thanks in part to Kurt Cobain and his band Nirvana. And while Nirvana would eventually disown the label of “grunge,” there’s no denying that they (and the other grunge bands) played a major role in making it what it is today.

In the years since grunge first burst onto the scene, a number of subsequent musical genres have been heavily influenced by its sound and aesthetic. Here are just a few examples:

-Emo: While emo originally emerged in the 1980s, it reached its peak of popularity in the early 2000s. Bands like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy were heavily influenced by grunge, both in terms of their sound and their style.

-Alternative rock: Alternative rock is another genre that can trace its roots back to grunge. While alternative rock had existed before grunge came along, it was only after Nirvana broke into the mainstream that the genre really began to take off. In many ways, alternative rock can be seen as a more commercialized version of grunge.

-Indie rock: Indie rock is another genre with close ties to grunge. Like alternative rock, indie rock began to gain traction in the early 1990s thanks to bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. And while indie rock has since evolved into its own distinct genre, it still retains many of the same sonic and aesthetic elements as grunge.

The enduring popularity of ‘grunge’

Grunge is a rock music genre and subculture that emerged during the mid-1980s in the Pacific Northwest U.S. state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. The early grunge movement revolved around Seattle’s independent record label Sub Pop and the region’s isolation from the rest of the country. Grunge was retrospectively defined by AllMusic’s Greg Prato as “a cross between hard rock and heavy metal”, “between alternative rock and punk”, “a type of post-punk”, or simply “a response to punk.”

The term “grunge” was first used in print in late 1981, when Charles R. Cross used it to describe Green River’s Dry as a Bone EP in an issue of Pendulum magazine. By 1984, Guns N’ Roses had dropped their classic hard rock sound in favor of a flannel-and-denim-clad version of L.A. punk that would come to be known as “hair metal”. In 1986, the Seattle scene erupted with a new style that fusing heavy metal with punk, and calling it “grunge”. In an effort to build on this success, Gold Mountain Entertainment – which represented both Nirvana and Soundgarden – began pitching the term “alternative metal” to music journalists in an attempt to broaden Nirvana’s appeal outside of their native Seattle. However, these attempts failed when grunge gained mainstream popularity after Nirvana’s highly successful second album Nevermind (1991).

Despite its underground origins, by the early 1990s grunge had begun crossing into the mainstream; album sales doubled between 1991 and 1992 . Pearl Jam’s Vs. (1993) reached No. 1 on Billboard 200 chart seven months after its release date – faster than any other album in history at that time – while Kurt Cobain became a global icon shortly before his suicide in April 1994 . following Cobain’s death, many grunge bands broke up or became inactive; ultimately leading to a decline in popularity for the genre as a whole during the late 1990s .

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