Nearly a month and change after Nirvana was sued by the (now adult) baby who appeared on the cover of their iconic 1990 album it seems the iconic nude-dollar-swimming cover of the grunge classic may be a thing of the past. Earlier this week, Nirvana drummer and alternative rock legend, Dave Grohl, revealed to The Times that future re-issues of the 30-year-old record may look a little different than its classic iteration.
“I have many ideas of how we should alter that cover but we’ll see what happens,” Grohl explained. Yet when asked for details, he remained coy. “We’ll let you know,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll come up with something good.”
Now, for those of you not in the Nirvana news loop, in late August, Spencer Elden, who is now 30, launched legal armageddon on pretty much every party involved in the iconic album – including Grohl, Nirvana bassist, Krist Novoselic, as well as Kurt Cobain’s estate, Universal Music, Warner Records, and Kirk Weddle, who snapped the pic among others, alleging the image was not only an example of sexual exploitation and child pornography but that his parents never inked a release permitting the grunge trio to use the photo on the cover of their sophomore album. Seeking $150,000 plus coverage of legal fees, Elden says he was negatively impacted by appearing on the record, suffering “extreme and permanent emotional distress” as well as “interference with his normal development and educational progress,” which reqired “medical and psychological treatment”.