Spencer Elden

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1991: Spencer Elden at three months old on the cover of Nirvana's album Nevermind.
1991: Spencer Elden at three months old on the cover of Nirvana's album Nevermind.
2003: Elden at age 12 on the cover of cEvin Key’s The Dragon Experience
2003: Elden at age 12 on the cover of cEvin Key’s The Dragon Experience

Spencer Elden (born July 9, 1991) is the baby / model who appeared on the iconic cover of Nirvana's album Nevermind. Nirvana's record company had considered using a stock photograph of a swimming baby, but when that proved too expensive they hired photographer Kirk Weddle.[citation needed] Weddle's friends Renata and Rick Elden allowed their son Spencer to be photographed underwater for a flat fee of $200. The hook, line, and dollar were superimposed at a later point.[citation needed] After seeing the photo, Kurt Cobain (Nirvana's lead singer) and his wife Courtney Love agreed that they would take Spencer out to dinner when he got older[1]. However, this never happened due to Cobain's death in 1994.

In 2001, Elden re-created the Nirvana album shot for Rolling Stone magazine, for Nevermind's tenth-anniversary.[2] Elden has since appeared on the cover of cEvin Key’s The Dragon Experience in 2003.[3]

In 2005, the then 14 year old Spencer Elden appeared on the documentary DVD Classic Albums: Nirvana - Nevermind. He also appeared on a (UK) Channel 4 show titled The 100 Greatest Albums and revealed his interpretation of the imagery used on the album cover, which was that it was all about the loss of innocence.

In a September 2006 interview with NME, Elden expressed his interest in meeting up with the remaining band members.

On August 16, 2007, in reference to the fact that his penis was visible on the album cover, Elden stated that he felt like a porn star: "It's kind of creepy that that many people have seen me naked. I feel like I'm the world's biggest porn star!"[4]


[edit] References

  1. ^ Nardwuar vs. Nirvana — an interview by Nardwuar, taken on Jan. 4, 1994;
  2. ^ Nirvana: 10 years after NevermindRolling Stone article;
  3. ^ Nirvana Baby ResurfacesRolling Stone.
  4. ^ Porn star status for Nirvana boyHerald Sun.