In the late ’80s and especially in the ’90s, grunge music was all the rage. For many, there was nothing else in music that could compare. But along with the big, buzzy guitars, hefty drums, mind-melting lyrics, and astonishing vocals, one thing that made the genre so popular was that it had a number of photogenic front people.
Want proof? Just ask anyone who ran a music shop in the era, and they’ll tell you that posters of many of those singers flew out the door. Those giant images went straight from places like Sam Goody to the bedroom walls and dorm rooms of young people growing up at the end of the 20th century.
Videos by VICE
Here, we wanted to highlight four of those grunge artists who lined bedroom walls from California to Maine. Indeed, these are four grunge stars that about a bajillion kids had on posters hanging up in their bedrooms.
Kurt Cobain
The dashing frontman for the grunge group Nirvana was propelled to stardom thanks to his exquisite song lyrics, vocal growl, and iconic rock trio. But those weren’t the only things that made him a favorite or so many young people in the 1990s.
There’s no way around it—Cobain was model handsome. With stringy blonde hair, a square jaw, and a face like he could have been Brad Pitt in Fight Club, Cobain was as handsome as he was talented. He became the literal poster child for the decade.
Courtney Love
A dashing leading man needs a beautiful leading woman, right? Well, when it came to Cobain, he was matched by his wife, rocker Courtney Love of the rock band Hole. While love was as counter-culture as it gets, she also had glamour, the ’90s version of someone like Marilyn Monroe. There’s a reason she transitioned from music to movies in the ’90s, including playing a major role in the film, The People vs. Larry Flynt, among others.
Eddie Vedder
Among all the grunge groups of the ’90s, Pearl Jam has managed to avoid major tragedy. Perhaps that’s because the band was fronted by the steady-handed crooner Eddie Vedder, whose woodgrain voice could be as soothing as it could be stirring. Vedder was the sensitive poet of the grunge crowd. Less depraved and more dependable. Still, though, his look and his gravitas led him to be the icon of many young people. Certainly, poster-worthy.
Chris Cornell
What do you get when you combine movie star good looks with a little danger? When light and darkness mix? Well, when it comes to grunge, the answer is Chris Cornell. Perhaps it makes total sense that Cornell’s signature song in the ’90s was “Black Hole Sun” because that phrase could describe him, too. He was like an eclipse. Less the blond leading man like Cobain and more the noir star like a detective in a black-and-white film. Yet, he still had poster good looks, to be sure.
More
From VICE
-
South China Morning Post/Contributor/Getty Images -
Robert Daly/Getty Images -
Carol Yepes/Getty Images -
Master/Getty Images
