MTV Unplugged in New York is a live album by the American grunge band, Nirvana. It was released in November 1994. It features an acoustic concert the band played at Sony Music Studios in New York City on November 18, 1993. The show, directed by Beth McCarthy, first aired on MTV on December 14, 1993. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1996.
MTV Unplugged in New York was the first Nirvana album released following the death of singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain in April 1994. It was hailed by critics as proof the band was able to transcend the grunge sound they were commonly associated with.
Six of the fourteen songs are covers, showcasing the band’s diverse tastes in music, featuring covers of songs by The Vaselines, David Bowie and The Meat Puppets, and of Leadbelly's folk standard, "Where Did You Sleep Last Night." The album opened at #1 on the Billboard 200. It was also the first Nirvana album to feature touring guitarist Pat Smear. Of Nirvana's live albums, this is the most successful (selling millions of copies). MTV Unplugged In New York is the most successful post-Cobain Nirvana release, selling 5,000,000 copies in America by 1997.
MTV Unplugged in New York includes two songs which were not aired on the original television broadcast of the concert: "Something in the Way" and "Oh, Me". Both the album and the broadcast omit a short jam of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s "Sweet Home Alabama", and rehearsals of "Come As You Are", "Polly", "Plateau", "Pennyroyal Tea" and "The Man Who Sold The World". The 2007 DVD release contains the entire taping.
