What age did "Smells Like Teen Spirit" influence the most?

I'd probably say an incoming freshman to high school, because that's typically when people's musical tastes start to expand. So, that would make you 14 in 1991, so... 1977. Too much older and you were already aware of the bands Nirvana was essentially aping. You knew about the Pixies and the Replacements already.

I was a sophomore in HS when that album came out. It definitely influenced my tastes heavily. It's still really nostalgic for me when I hear some old Nirvana. Went to the Rock & Roll museum in Seattle a year ago. They had a huge Nirvana exhibit...I was in awe.

I was 12 at the time but I was already listening to Metallica and GnR so it didn't affect me much.

I was born in 1990. It is one of my favorite songs of all time. First heard it when I was 12.

Born in 81 and was huge for me.

I was born in 1974 so I was 16/17 when it got big. It was HUGE for my generation. Most everyone was into hair bands and metal, and even country. That was also around the time Garth Brooks hit it big. Hair bands were starting to get old and cliche, so we were starving for something fresh and new. So I'd say anyone from about 6th grade through 12th grade in 91.

My older brother had actually given me a Nirvana tape(Bleach) about a year earlier. They were already sort of popular on college radio. It never really grabbed me though. Smells Like Teen Spirit didn't really grab me, but I bought the album and several other songs on it did. Drain You was the song that I fell in love with and is still my favorite Nirvana song today.

I actually always liked Pearl Jam more than Nirvana, but fairly or not Nirvana gets the credit for bringing that scene to the forefront. Pearl Jam's Ten was released around a year before Smells Like Teen Spirit got big, and the video for Alive had been in semi-regular rotation on MTV. I don't think it got "big" until after Smells Like Teen Spirit, but I may be thinking of Evenflow. My memory is a bit hazy on the timeline. Bottom line, Smells Like Teen Spirit opened the door for many in my generation to discover PJ, AIC, Soundgarden, etc. That doesn't mean Nirvana was the best of those bands.

I was 15 when this song came out(born in '76). Have to say the next 4 years of rock music were pretty awesome. The end of hair bands and the rise of grunge before rap/rock took over.

Well, the whole point of Nirvana is to reject Baby Boomer rock n roll. So traditional rock fans SHOULD hate Nirvana... they were attacking you. Pearl Jam was just an arena rock band who fit comfortably in the long tradition of rock n roll, and Soundgarden was a metal band. A good metal band, but still a metal band. If "grunge" never happens, those bands would easily fit in another narrative.

Alice in Chains was also truly revolutionary, but only after they went through their hair metal phase, came back to Seattle, and were heavily influenced by Nirvana and Mudhoney. Hence them pissing on copies of Facelift on the back of the Sap EP. If Sub Pop doesn't happen, Alice never makes Dirt.