A 30th anniversary re-release will be altered, according to the musician.
Nirvana member Dave Grohl says the band has plans to change its infamous cover album artwork for Nevermind thirty years after its release due to a lawsuit.
The 1991 album cover, which features a naked baby swimming underwater, is one of the most recognisable pieces of cover art in music history – but it looks like that will soon change.
Spencer Elden, now 30, claims he’s the naked baby pictured on the cover and is suing the band for child sexual exploitation.
He says the image is child pornography, claiming the band promised to cover his genitals with a sticker for the album cover but never did.
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Legal documents also allege Elden could not consent to the use of his image on the album artwork as he was only 4 months old at the time, and that his legal guardians didn’t consent on his behalf.
He is suing the band’s surviving members, Kurt Cobain’s estate and others for damages of around $150,000 each, according to documents filed in August.
Up until now, no comment on the issue was made by the band or reps for Cobain’s estate, but Grohl has addressed it in a new interview with the Sunday Times.
Grohl, who was Nirvana’s drummer, says the band will be altering the cover in what will address part of Elden’s lawsuit that specifically requests “if there is a 30th-anniversary re-release [of the album], he wants for the entire world not to see his genitals.”
“I have many ideas of how we should alter that cover but we’ll see what happens,” Grohl said.
“We’ll let you know. I’m sure we’ll come up with something good.”
The musician also said he’s “fortunately” not dealing with the ins-and-outs of the suit.
“I think that there’s much more to look forward to and much more to life than getting bogged down in those kinds of things,” he added.
