Peacock has released an official pro-shot video of Nirvana’s surprise reunion with rapper and singer Post Malone at the Saturday Night Live 50th-anniversary concert.
The performance took place on February 14, and it featured Nirvana’s surviving members —Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Pat Smear— playing their hit song ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ with Malone handling lead vocals. The group was introduced by comedian Adam Sandler as ‘Post Nirvana.’
The three-hour event was streamed live on Peacock, and it included performances from Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, The Roots, David Byrne, Arcade Fire, Miley Cyrus, and other big names.
Post Malone is a longtime fan of Nirvana and previously performed a full set of Nirvana covers in 2020 alongside Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. That livestream will be released on vinyl this April for Record Store Day.
Dave Grohl spoke about Malone’s appreciation for Nirvana’s music years ago. “I don’t get to see other people do Nirvana songs often, and he seemed perfectly comfortable with it, and it sounded great… Even the die-hard Nirvana people that I know were, like, ‘Dude, he’s kind of killing it right now,’” he said of Post Malone.
This was not the first time Grohl, Novoselic, and Smear reunited to perform Nirvana songs. They also played together on January 30 at the FireAid benefit concert, where different guest singers filled in for Kurt Cobain. St. Vincent sang ‘Breed,’ Kim Gordon performed ‘School,’ Joan Jett took on ‘Territorial Pissings,’ and Grohl’s daughter Violet sang ‘All Apologies.’
Before that, they had a similar reunion at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2014. St. Vincent, Jett, and Gordon, as well as Lorde, took turns on vocals.
Nirvana’s surviving members also performed together on a few other occasions. In January 2020, they played a five-song set at The Art Of Elysium’s annual charity gala, featuring Beck, St. Vincent, and Violet Grohl as guest vocalists. That setlist included ‘Lithium,’ ‘In Bloom,’ ‘Been A Son,’ and ‘Heart-Shaped Box.’ It closed with David Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold The World.’
The full pro-shot video of the SNL performance is now available on Peacock, and clips of the concert already went viral across social media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB7Cmayu56g
