Nevermind

Kurt Cobain originally pitched the concept of using footage of an underwater birth he had seen on a television documentary. When Geffen Records deemed that too graphic for a major label release, the idea was modified to a baby swimming underwater. Photographer Kirk Weddle was hired to shoot at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena, California. Several babies were brought in; four-month-old Spencer Elden was the one who produced usable shots.

The dollar bill on a fishhook was added in post-production and was Cobain's idea — a commentary on how humans are conditioned from birth to chase money, and how capitalism "hooks" people before they can even think critically. Cobain once remarked that the image showed "a basic human instinct — greed — and how we're all just swimming toward the dollar."

There was internal debate at Geffen about the baby's visible genitalia. Cobain was asked if he'd consent to a censored version, and reportedly responded that the only compromise he'd accept would be a sticker over the genitals reading "If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile."

Spencer Elden has had a complicated relationship with the image throughout his life. He recreated the pose for the album's 10th, 15th, 20th, and 25th anniversaries — though wearing swim trunks. In 2021, he filed a lawsuit against the band alleging the image constituted child exploitation; the suit was ultimately dismissed by a federal judge in 2022.

The album sold over 30 million copies worldwide and is credited with bringing alternative rock into the mainstream, effectively ending the dominance of hair metal. The cover is consistently ranked among the greatest of all time and has become a symbol of the 1990s cultural shift.