In 1991, three grungy dudes from Washington recorded an album that changed everything. Nirvana's Nevermind would sell 25 million copies, alter the course of music and fashion, and transform Kurt Cobain into the reluctant voice of a generation. In this exclusive preview of our definitive oral history, in conjunction with Seattle's Experience Music Project exhibit , see the images that defined a revolution

"One day Kurt brought me a Yoko Ono box set, which I fuckin' threw at him. I was like, "What? No. Think about what this woman lived through. Don't you fuckin' ever compare me to her again."—Courtney Love, singer, Hole; widow of Kurt Cobain

Parodying rumors about his health, Cobain is wheeled to the stage by music journalist Everett True at the Reading Festival, 1992

"About a week before I went to L.A. to begin recording Nevermind, I got a cassette in the mail. The first thing on the cassette was "Hey, Butch!" It was Kurt speaking on a boom box: "We got a new drummer, his name's Dave Grohl, he's the best drummer in the world!"—_Butch Vig, producer, _Nevermind

"He hated the people that ended up liking his band. Those are the people he started a band because of, jocks and people like that."—Kim Warnick, singer and bassist, Fastbacks

"Kurt was a leader, he was strong, in fact he was well fucking hung, if you really want to know."—_Courtney Love, singer, Hole; widow of Kurt Cobain _

Producer Butch Vig and Dave Grohl at Sound City Studios during the recording of Nevermind

"My perspective is that [Kurt] was ill a lot of the time, that his stomach hurt and he was in a lot of pain; no one wants to talk when you're not feeling well."—Jennifer Finch, bassist, L7; ex-girlfriend of Dave Grohl

Record signing at Off the Record in San Diego

Photo: Charles Peterson Record release at Beehive records in Seattle

Photo: Courtesy of Shelli Hyrkas and Experience Music Project Punk cheerleaders from "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video

Photo: Ed Sirrs Record signing at Off the Record in San Diego

Photo: Kirk Weddle "My perspective is that [Kurt] was ill a lot of the time, that his stomach hurt and he was in a lot of pain; no one wants to talk when you're not feeling well."—Jennifer Finch, bassist, L7; ex-girlfriend of Dave Grohl

Photo: Courtesy of Alan Lonsdale Advance cassette for Nevermind

Photo: Courtesy of Shelli Hyrkas and Experience Music Project Producer Butch Vig and Dave Grohl at Sound City Studios during the recording of Nevermind

Photo: Dora Handel/Corbis Outline "Kurt was a leader, he was strong, in fact he was well fucking hung, if you really want to know."—_Courtney Love, singer, Hole; widow of Kurt Cobain _

Photo: Juergen Teller Cobain in Berlin, 1991

Photo: Courtesy of Shelli Hyrkas and Experience Music Project The band on tour in Australia, 1992

Photo: Gie Knaeps/LFI Cobain onstage at the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium, 1991

Photo: Steve Gullick/The Hell Gate "He hated the people that ended up liking his band. Those are the people he started a band because of, jocks and people like that."—Kim Warnick, singer and bassist, Fastbacks

Photo: Ed Sirrs Krist Novoselic at a show in Ireland, 1991

Photo: Steve Gullick/The Hell Gate Nirvana onstage in Oslo, 1992

Photo: Marty Temme/WireImage "About a week before I went to L.A. to begin recording Nevermind, I got a cassette in the mail. The first thing on the cassette was "Hey, Butch!" It was Kurt speaking on a boom box: "We got a new drummer, his name's Dave Grohl, he's the best drummer in the world!"—_Butch Vig, producer, _Nevermind

Photo: Charles Peterson/Retna/Corbis Parodying rumors about his health, Cobain is wheeled to the stage by music journalist Everett True at the Reading Festival, 1992