Overview
- Nirvana were presented the Video Vanguard lifetime-achievement award at the MTV VMAs on Sept. 27, with Public Enemy frontman Chuck D giving the introduction.
- MTV ran an archival montage of the band's most famous music videos, including clips of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “In Bloom,” “Come As You Are,” and “Heart-Shaped Box.”
- Survivors Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl, and Pat Smear accepted onstage with Novoselic delivering prepared remarks that paid tribute to late frontman Kurt Cobain.
- The trio did not perform at the ceremony; Grohl remained silent during the onstage moment while Smear was seen smoking a cigarette as the band received the honor.
- Coverage noted that this is the first rock band to win the Video Vanguard since Duran Duran in 2003 and that the award comes in the same year MTV removed a rock category from the VMA lineup, a detail that highlights questions about rock's place on the network.