22 years ago today, Nirvana delivered what would remain one of their most memorable performances. It was on December 16, 1993 that Nirvana”s “MTV Unplugged” show first aired.
Taped in New York in November 1993, the acoustic show featured a set consisting mostly of covers, including of David Bowie”s “The Man Who Sold the World” and of a few songs by Meat Puppets, who joined the Aberdeen, Wash.-born grunge band onstage at the “Unplugged” taping. Among their few hits played for the MTV show were “All Apologies” and “Come As You Are.”
The live album from the event ended up being the band”s first album release following Kurt Cobain”s death. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and became the band”s most successful posthumous release.
Other notable December 16 happenings in pop culture history:
• 1962: “Lawrence of Arabia” made its U.S. debut.
• 1966: The Jimi Hendrix Experience released the single “Hey Joe.”
• 1977: “Saturday Night Fever” opened in theaters.
• 1979: At the Toledo Sports Arena in Toledo, Ohio, the original members of KISS performed for the final time before their 1996 reunion.
• 1988: “Rain Man” opened in U.S. theaters.
• 1994: “Dumb and Dumber” opened in theaters.
• 2002: Michael J. Fox received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• 2004: iTunes reached the milestone of 200 million songs sold. (Ryan Alekman of Belchertown, Mass. bought the 200 millionth song, which was one of the tracks U2″s digital box set “The Complete U2.”)
• 2006: Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake”s “SNL” Digital Short “Dick in a Box” first aired.
Birthdays: “Jessica Jones” actress Krysten Ritter (turns 34 today), “Nikita” actor Xander Berkeley (60), “Iron Man 3” director Shane Black (54), “Law & Order” actor Benjamin Bratt (52), ZZ Top singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons (66), “Divergent” actor Theo James (31), Boyz II Men singer Michael McCary (44), “The Lord of the Rings” actress Miranda Otto (48), “The Chronicles of Narnia” actress Anna Popplewell (27)