Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ Cover Baby Recreates Photo for 25th Anniversary
With Nirvana’s Nevermind celebrating its 25th anniversary yesterday, this has naturally caused a lot of people to wonder what ever became of the baby who posed on the record’s cover. This weekend, we’ve learned that Spencer Elden is an artist living in Los Angeles.
Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to get tired of talking about it or recreating the photo as authentically as possible every few years. “I said to the photographer, ‘Let’s do it naked,’” he told the New York Post. “But he thought that would be weird, so I wore my swim shorts.”
Even though Elden is more into the Clash than Nirvana these days, as you can see in the photo below, he’s still proud enough of his place in music history to have the album’s name tattooed across his chest. And he knows that it’s something with which he’s always going to be associated.
“The anniversary means something to me,” he said. It’s strange that I did this for five minutes when I was four months old and it became this really iconic image. It’s cool but weird to be part of something so important that I don’t even remember.”
Elden’s parents were paid $200 by photographer Kirk Weddle at a shoot that lasted approximately 15 seconds. Nevermind has sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. on the strength of hit singles like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Come As You Are." John Chapple, who took the photo this year, paid him another $200.
Nirvana Albums Ranked in Order of Awesomeness