Sound Waves

How Seattle birthed jazz kings to grunge gods, hip-hop stars to indie darlings, and where its music is headed next.

A howling melodic savant with four haphazardly held distorted power chords and some thunderous drums not only started a musical revolution, he also instantaneously solidified the identity of a city. The year was 1991, and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” had just dropped on Seattle with intense clarity, wiping away the over-the-top ’80s rock acts and leaving waves of sound and attitude that can still be felt today.

Emerging from a vibrant local punk scene bred on Sub Pop Records, the grunge movement soon became the predominant national noise, and Seattle served as its epicenter. Seattle-born groups like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden followed in Nirvana’s footsteps and blossomed into massive rock bands on a global scale. But the story of Seattle music doesn’t begin and end with Kurt Cobain and his grunge legacy. After all, the city has nourished everything from jazz kings to hip-hop superstars and is now at the forefront of the indie-folk movement. That plethora of musical talent—not to mention the wealth of ways to consume music, from intimate concert venues to mom-and-pop record shops—speaks to one clear, guiding thought: Seattle is musical nirvana.

Climbing the Charts

When it comes to classic rock, Seattle boasts a few significant claims to fame. The first, of course, is the greatest guitarist of all time: Jimi Hendrix. The legendary musician was born in Seattle in 1942 and learned how to play guitar while growing up in the city. He moved away before achieving stardom, but he’ll always be the pride of the Emerald City. Visitors today can see Hendrix strumming his heart out in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, where a statue immortalizes him in bronze.

For legendary rockers that stayed anchored in the Seattle area, look no further than sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. Heart broke into the rock-and-roll boys club in the mid-1970s with music that was harder and heavier than anything out there—and sold millions of records in the process. And for musicians who found their way to Seattle later in life, well, just take a look at Dave Matthews. The South African band lead has musical roots in Virginia but now calls Seattle his home, where he’s been spotted shopping for groceries and having a drink at his neighborhood pub.

As heavy metal riffs of the ’70s and ’80s gave way to the growling grunge of the ’90s, hip-hop edged its way into the local music scene. The city found itself on the cutting edge in 1980 when DJ Nasty Nes debuted Fresh Tracks, the West Coast’s first hip-hop radio show on KFOX 1250. A dozen years later, armed with 1992’s booty-centric megahit “Baby Got Back,” Sir Mix-A-Lot emerged as the first Seattle hip-hop star. Local talent began to make waves again in 2002 when the social-minded rap duo Blue Scholars came onto the scene, quickly becoming hometown heroes. Otherworldly experimental hip-hop duo Shabazz Palaces brought national respect to Seattle with the acclaimed release of 2011’s Black Up. All of this paved the way for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis to become international superstars. After building up a rabid Seattle following, the pair blew up in 2012 thanks to the playfully colorful single (and Seattle-filmed music video for) “Thrift Shop” from the album The Heist. The independently released record went on to sell more than a million copies and earn the duo four Grammy Awards.