These days, Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged special is considered one of the all-time greats. But at the time, MTV was actually disappointed with the songs Nirvana chose to play. MTV Unplugged producer Joel Stillerman says they were hoping Nirvana would play some of their more popular songs, like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or Heart-Shaped Box”. Instead, Nirvana played a set filled with lesser-known tracks and obscure cover songs. But Stillerman says now he sees that Kurt Cobain “had a very clear vision” for the show that “turned out to be incredibly right”.
