Who directed Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video?

Samuel Bayer directed Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video.

The video presents Nirvana performing in a chaotic high-school gym, surrounded by cheerleaders and increasingly unruly students. Bayer’s treatment helped establish the song’s rebellious visual identity and became one of the defining images of the grunge era.

The clip was filmed in California in 1991. Bayer was a relatively new commercial director at the time, but the video’s rough energy and escalating destruction suited the song’s sound. It became a major MTV staple and helped introduce Nirvana to a mass television audience.

A common mix-up is confusing Bayer with directors of other major Nirvana videos. Kevin Kerslake directed “Come as You Are,” “Lithium,” and “In Bloom,” while Anton Corbijn directed “Heart-Shaped Box.”