With a lawsuit from the famous baby – now 30 years old – prompting the band to consider altering the artwork, five album artists give us their alternative takes on the grunge classic
Spencer Elden, who appeared naked as a baby on the cover of Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind, is suing the band, alleging sexual exploitation. He says his parents never signed a release authorising the use of the photograph, which depicts him swimming towards a dollar bill on a hook, and that its enduring distribution – it has sold more than 30m copies – has left him with “lifelong damages”. Elden also wants the artwork to be changed for all future releases of Nevermind.
In response, the former Nirvana drummer (and Foo Fighters frontman) Dave Grohl has said he has “many ideas” of how the surviving members of the band might alter the cover – which was art-directed by Robert Fisher – before a belated 30th anniversary reissue.
