“With the lights out, it’s less dangerous / Here we are now, entertain us” (“Smells Like Teen Spirit”). And entertain us they did.

Picture this: September 23, 1991 – fall had only just begun, and in Seattle the underground music scene was filled to the brim with bands ready to take the world by storm and bring the underground to light. It was only a matter of time before one band reached the heights that no other underground group had before, and on that September day, one band finally did. Bring into the picture bassist Krist Novoselic, drummer Dave Grohl, and lead singer Kurt Cobain, along with one spectacular album called “Nevermind,” and you’ve got yourself the birth of an icon. There was Nirvana.

Now, 24 years later, the music industry has never been the same. The album, “Nevermind,” launched Nirvana to the forefront, bridging the gap between the underground sub-culture with pop culture, and was also the album that housed some of Nirvana’s most iconic songs. To name a few, they included “Lithium,” “In Bloom,” “Come As You Are,” and probably the song most associated with the band, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” These are only a few of the songs that have built the band not just into popularity, but into infamy as well.

Beyond the lives of its band members, who became equally iconic in their own right, the band’s music stood for something. They had a sound that was undeniable, with Kurt Cobain’s powerhouse scream that never ceased to blow you away, Dave Grohl’s ferocious drum skills that kept the beat going and Krist Novoselic’s tenacious base that laid down the basis for all the craziness to come; their sound had the power to take on a life of its own.

Along with the album’s 24th anniversary, another testimony to Nirvana’s power was released in the most unlikely of forms, a scientific study. Recently, computer scientist Dr. Mick Geirson of the University of London performed a study that declared Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is the most iconic song ever. Using varying computer algorithms to compare music that had been placed on various “all-time bests” lists by some of the major music magazines and newspapers, he was able to compile a list of the 50 most iconic songs of all time, with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” exactly where it belongs: at the top.

Nirvana was not simply a band; they embodied a movement. They sculpted the music scene of the ’90s, giving bands the chance to break through the mold and prove that genre is not what matters, but it’s all based on the music. Nirvana proved that good music can be from anywhere, even from underground. So, to the album that reminded people its okay to feel stupid and contagious, happy anniversary!