Krist Novoselic

Former Nirvana bassist Chris Novoselic is one of rock's most politically minded musicians. Born Krist Anthony Novoselic on May 16, 1965 in Los Angeles, CA, to Croatian immigrants, Novoselic and his family remained in California until 1979, when they moved to the tiny logging town of Aberdeen, WA. Novoselic had changed the spelling of his first name to "Chris," although he would go back and forth between the spellings throughout the years. Feeling self-conscious and like an outsider among his new schoolmates (he was extremely tall for his age and had a severe underbite), Novoselic discovered such classic rockers as Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and Black Sabbath, as well as such new wave bands as Devo. But it wasn't until a yearlong trip to his parent's native country of Croatia in 1980 that he discovered punk rock (Sex Pistols, Ramones, etc.). When he reluctantly returned to the U.S. a year later, Novoselic saved up enough money to buy a guitar, and learned by playing along to blues records.