Hardware FixRecommendedDevice not working? Your driver may be the problemCheck updates for common hardware issues.Fix DriversOctober DealsAmazon USOctober deal check: compare before you payAmazon US: current deals, useful picks and tech finds.Check DealsPC HealthRecommendedCrashes, freezes, slowdowns? Check your PC nowSpot repairable issues before they interrupt work.Check PC×
Skip to content
DocumentaryTube
Admit one · Blog

How AI Helped Create “Drowned in the Sun,” a Nirvana-Style Song

“Drowned in the Sun” was an AI-generated Nirvana-style track for Over the Bridge’s Lost Tapes of the 27 Club, with vocals by Eric Hogan of tribute band Nevermind.
Opened Runtime3 min Written byDocumentaryTube Team

What’s actually slowing this PC down?

Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

“Drowned in the Sun” is an AI-generated song modeled on Nirvana’s music—not a new song written or performed by Nirvana. The track was made for Lost Tapes of the 27 Club, a project by Toronto-based Over the Bridge intended to draw attention to mental-health challenges in the music industry. Eric Hogan, lead singer of Atlanta Nirvana tribute band Nevermind, performed the vocal.

What “Drowned in the Sun” is—and isn’t

GeekWire reported on April 5, 2021, that Over the Bridge created the track as part of Lost Tapes of the 27 Club, a project making songs modeled on musicians who died at age 27. The title’s “new Nirvana song” framing can be misleading: the track was generated with AI tools and then shaped and performed with human involvement. It was not presented as an official Nirvana recording.

The report describes “Drowned in the Sun” as having qualities reminiscent of Nirvana. Hogan said he heard moments that evoked different eras of the band, but that is a listener’s impression, not a technical finding or a formal similarity score.

How the project reportedly used AI and MIDI

GeekWire’s account says the project relied mostly on computers to write and perform music in the styles of artists who died at 27. It reports that the team used Google’s Magenta and MIDI files. GeekWire also attributes to Rolling Stone the account that AI programs analyzed up to 30 songs per artist, looking at elements such as vocal melodies, chord changes, guitar riffs and solos. That is a project-specific figure reported in 2021, not a general measure of what AI music systems require.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
#1 Best Overall
Nevermind
  • Nirvana- Nevermind

MIDI is a way to encode musical information such as pitch and rhythm as digital instructions that can be played through a synthesizer. GeekWire compared it to a player-piano scroll: the encoded notes guide an instrument, rather than being a finished audio recording in themselves.

The article does not provide a complete training dataset, software versions, model settings or a reproducible account of the workflow. It therefore supports a broad description of the reported method, not a claim that the song can be recreated from the information published.

Rank #2
Nevermind - Exclusive Limited Edition Silver Vinyl LP [Condition-VG+NM]
  • Exclusive Limited Edition Silver Vinyl LP
  • [Condition-VG+NM]

People still shaped and performed the result

The report does not describe a hands-off, fully automated release. People reviewed generated musical material, and Hogan sang the finished vocal. He said he needed a person to guide him through the tune: “I had to have the guy who came up with the AI track mumble and hum [the tune],” he told Rolling Stone, as quoted by GeekWire.

That human contribution matters when describing the track. The software was used to generate musical material in a chosen style; a human singer supplied the vocal performance, and people were involved in interpreting and working with the output.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
Rank #3
In Utero[LP]
  • Nirvana's third (and ultimately final) studio album, In Utero, was 1993's most polarizing rock record

Why Over the Bridge made it

GeekWire described Over the Bridge as a Toronto-based organization whose work helps music-industry members struggling with mental illness. The project’s stated purpose was to draw attention to those challenges and to help available to living musicians. Its subject is therefore both an AI music experiment and a mental-health awareness project.

Hogan also cautioned against treating the result as a definitive answer to what Kurt Cobain would have written. “I would feel weird trying to assume what [Cobain] would do,” he said, according to GeekWire’s quotation of Rolling Stone. He added: “Kurt would just sort of write whatever the hell he felt like writing. And if he liked it, then that was a Nirvana song.” Those remarks underline the difference between imitating aspects of a sound and claiming authorship or approval from the artist.

Rank #4
Nirvana Vinyl, Nevermind
  • Nirvana Vinyl, Nevermind Vinyl, Limited Edition, Reissue, Repress, Silver
  • Nirvana Vinyl
  • Nevermind Nirvana
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Support on Ko-Fi

What the report does not establish

The April 2021 account does not establish the track’s licensing or permissions, or approval by Nirvana’s rightsholders. It also offers no formal test of how closely the song resembles the band. The reported resemblance is qualitative, and the production details are incomplete. Those limits do not change what the article identifies clearly: “Drowned in the Sun” was an AI-assisted, human-performed Nirvana-style track created for Over the Bridge’s project.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1
Nevermind
Nevermind
Nirvana- Nevermind
$29.99
Bestseller No. 2
Nevermind - Exclusive Limited Edition Silver Vinyl LP [Condition-VG+NM]
Nevermind - Exclusive Limited Edition Silver Vinyl LP [Condition-VG+NM]
Exclusive Limited Edition Silver Vinyl LP; [Condition-VG+NM]
$33.26
Bestseller No. 3
Bestseller No. 4
Nirvana Vinyl, Nevermind
Nirvana Vinyl, Nevermind
Nirvana Vinyl, Nevermind Vinyl, Limited Edition, Reissue, Repress, Silver; Nirvana Vinyl; Nevermind Nirvana
$49.99
Best Value
Nevermind (30th Anniversary)[Super Deluxe 8 LP/7" Single]
  • Commemorating the 30th anniversary of Nirvana's seminal 1991 release, the Nevermind Super Deluxe contains 8 LPs on 180-gram heavy vinyl showcasing the newly remastered album from the original analog tapes along with 4 complete concerts on the Nevermind Tour from Amsterdam, Melbourne, Tokyo, and Del Mar, California

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

More from the Screening Room

  1. Why Grimes Called Kito’s AI-Voice Track “Cold Touch” a “Masterpiece”Admit one · BlogWhy Grimes Called Kito's AI-Voice Track “Cold Touch” a “Masterpiece”Opened08 OCT 2026Runtime4 min
  2. This “Deepfake” AI Singing Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” Isn’t Dolly Parton—and That’s the PointAdmit one · BlogThis “Deepfake” AI Singing Dolly Parton's “Jolene” Isn't Dolly Parton-and That's the PointOpened02 OCT 2026Runtime5 min
  3. AI Reimagined The Beatles’ *Rubber Soul* as a Motown Album—but It Isn’t an Official Beatles ReleaseAdmit one · BlogAI Reimagined The Beatles' *Rubber Soul* as a Motown Album-but It Isn't an Official Beatles ReleaseOpened24 SEP 2026Runtime6 min
Recommended PC Tool
Recommended PC Tool
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?Free driver scan
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They SpreadFree repair scan

Two free Windows tools

One Free Minute Could Fix That PC

Before you go - each of these free tools takes about a minute and tackles what quietly slows a Windows PC down.

Special offer. View Outbyte info, uninstall instructions, EULA, and Privacy Policy.