Nirvana - The Elephant in the Room

It's impossible to talk about the death of Alternative without discussing the catapult of Nirvana up the charts. Punk happened in England in 1976-77. In America, punk finally made it to the top of the pop charts in 1991 in the form of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".  For better or worse, this was the beginning of the end for Alternative music. Alternative was now mainstream and, by definition, once you're mainstream, you're no longer alternative.