Legendary rock guitarist Pat Smear turns 61-years-old today. Smear was not only a founding member of influential punk band the Germs, but he was also the touring guitarist for Nirvana from 1993 up until Kurt Cobain's death. Smear joined Dave Grohl when he formed Foo Fighters, and after a couple of hiatus', he officially rejoined FF in 2010.

In honor of his birthday, we dug up the first set Smear performed with Nirvana, which happens to be their Saturday Night Live performance from September 25th, 1993.

The performance came after Cobain implored Smear to join Nirvana as the second guitarist for their In Utero Tour. Smear accepted Cobain's invitation immediately and from there, it was history.

This would be the second time Nirvana played SNL, making them the first band to be asked back for a second time. The show featured NBA superstar Charles Barkley as the host, and it was the first episode of Season 19. In a 2017 interview, Barkley described Nirvana as "fantastic" upon meeting them.

Nirvana performed two songs off In Utero, starting with "Heart-Shaped Box" and ending with "Rape Me." Both songs had already been live debuted, with "Rape Me" getting its first performance as early as 1991.

Check out Smear's first performance with Nirvana here:

Smear went on to tour with Nirvana for six months, marking his first mass audience exposure. He appears on their live albums MTV Unplugged in New York and From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah.

Happy Birthday to one helluva rhythm guitarist!