(Credits: Far Out / DGC Records)
In September 1991, a baby was dropped into a pool of open water and sent chasing a dollar bill, and the world of grunge rock was forever changed by Nirvana.
That might be putting it a bit too simply, sure, but it’s still true that Nirvana’s Nevermind cover shot straight into the ranks of the most iconic album artwork ever made – right up there with Bowie’s Aladdin Sane and The Beatles’ Abbey Road. After that, you’d think everyone just rides off into the sunset, job done, right?
Well, we all know that that isn’t exactly true. Kurt Cobain’s death, not three years afterwards, stands as the ultimate testament to that, but no matter how the circumstances of his life tragically ended, it still did not derail the otherwise illustrious legacy that Nirvana managed to cultivate for themselves in just the space of a few short years. Instead, what threatened to squander the legacy of their most iconic album was not the exploits of the band themselves, but the cover star at the front and centre of it.
It’s almost like we take that picture of the naked baby completely for granted, don’t we? It’s easy to forget that, behind the mirage of an iconic image, there is a real person underneath. But he’s certainly not a baby anymore. Back then, four-month-old Spencer Elden was a completely innocent – and more importantly, anonymous – child, whose parents just so happened to be friends with the photographer Kirk Weddle. None of them knew how much that connection would change the course of their entire lives.
Over the years, it’s been well documented that Cobain had a perhaps slightly morbid curiosity and obsession with the workings of the human body, and was inspired by the concept of water births for the artwork of Nevermind. Thankfully, he was eventually talked down from the initial full-frontal idea – the record label found the pictures too graphic, funnily enough – and instead roped in Weddle to capture some imagery at his local baby swimming class.
That’s where the classic photo of Elden was taken, and seemingly, the rest was history. The album went on to sell millions of copies, and everyone was happy. Except for the baby, that was, who simply couldn’t shake the feeling as he grew older that his identity and privacy had been continuously violated by a band and their fans who just couldn’t get enough of that imagery.
So what happened?
The main issue is obviously centred upon the fact that Elden is entirely naked in the photo, which is seen for nothing but its shock and subsequent artistic value to many, but for the man himself opens up a whole different can of worms. As recently as late September 2025 – conveniently lined up with the 34th anniversary of the album itself – Elden was still pushing the campaign to sue Nirvana for child pornography, an allegation they outright deny. But he says he will still be pursuing the charge, and will not stop until justice is brought.
Of course, it’s not for anyone else to have a view on what side of the debate we fall on this. Yes, it’s a piece of art that Elden has no doubt been compensated handsomely for, but it’s not like any of us have had our naked childhood bodies plastered all over the world to live with for the rest of our lives, knowing that it happened without any of our proper knowledge or consent at the time.
In a lot of ways, the Nevermind case does draw a lot of surprising parallels to the discourse now that we have surrounding children being posted on the internet, but on the other hand, Elden’s appearance on the album still feels so much more large-scale and consuming than any modern comparison. We can probably all safely say for the long run that the artwork won’t be classed as child pornography, especially considering how far it has travelled around the world, but clearly any sense of recompense will still not be enough.
Of course, there is still a sense of anonymity to be had in that Elden was four months old at the time and is now in his early thirties. It’s not as if he’s ever going to be asked to recreate it. Yet even though Nirvana more than likely never meant to cause him any harm, by the virtue of plastering him all over their iconic album in such a salacious way was always going to come with baggage that they could never understand themselves.
But no matter where the case goes in the future, it’s clear that the ship has well and truly sailed. Nevermind is everywhere; Elden’s name will forever be attached to it. In some ways that baby from three decades ago has cultivated a legacy that will outlive the band and its fans themselves: both a blessing and a curse, but something that is never going to die quietly.
Related Topics
