3 Grunge Music Videos From 1994 That Are Still on Our Minds

If you ask those who followed the grunge movement closely, they’ll tell you that 1994 was the beginning of the end. The rock sub-genre’s biggest star, Kurt Cobain, died on April 5, 1994, and with him, his iconic trio Nirvana was gone. It was hard for other bands to follow in the wake of that loss, and many in the music listening public looked to music that didn’t remind them of such hard times.

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But before it was all over, grunge enjoyed some high highs in 1994. And that’s just what we wanted to dive into below. We wanted to explore three great grunge songs and three great accompanying grunge music videos from 1994 that we still adore. Indeed, these offerings are still in our bloodstream today.

“All Apologies” by Nirvana from ‘MTV Unplugged In New York’ (1994)

While In Utero was Nirvana’s final studio album, the group did release another incredible record after that 1993 offering. Nirvana recorded their MTV Unplugged performance in 1993, and the audio from that show was released as an album in late 1994, several months after Cobain’s passing. The acoustic-driven album and accompanying visuals might just be the best offering from the grunge movement.

“Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden from ‘Superunknown’ (1994)

Soundgarden scored a major hit when they released their 1994 single “Black Hole Sun”, but it was the music video that put the whole effort over the top. With the wild-eyed, big-mouthed characters in the surreal, unnerving video, Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell could have run for mayor of MTV and won. In the mid-90s, we were all singing about that paradoxical vision—that black hole sun—together.

“Doll Parts” by Hole from ‘Live Through This’ (1994)

Some purists only believe grunge can come from the Pacific Northwest, but we don’t want to disqualify the California-born rockers Hole here. Led by Courtney Love, Hole packed a punch, writing subversive songs about beauty, celebrity, and desire. For evidence, see: “Doll Parts”. In the music video, she subverted the American commercial POV as well as any in the final decade of the 20th century.

Clip of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” music video