(Credits: Far Out / MTV)
Fri 30 January 2026 4:00, UK
There’s a special place in music history for MTV Unplugged, where several artists have performed iconic sets by showcasing a widely different, stripped-back side to their music.
Although it may not seem like it, it takes a lot to be able to do something like that. Most musicians find performing their songs live a challenge in itself, so you can imagine why some might be turned off by the idea of reimagining them in a more intimate and acoustic setting, which, in fact, many did, turning away from the opportunity until they witnessed one band prove that it could be done well.
In 1994, Nirvana appeared on Unplugged to perform a handful of acoustic versions of their songs, including ‘About a Girl’, ‘Come As You Are’, ‘Something in the Way’, and ‘The Man Who Sold the World’, making for one of the most iconic Unplugged gigs, mainly because it showed the band in a new light while also proving their diversity, branching out into deeper cuts that strayed away from their typical grunge sound.
All the best of these performances achieved the same feat with Alice in Chains, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, and Lauryn Hill all earning their place in iconic Unplugged history for similar reasons, providing audiences with a fresh take on their material that let them into their world in a closer, more connected way than ever before.
So, who was the first female musician to perform?
But as with most iconic series or performances, Unplugged wasn’t always a major industry touchpoint. Launched in 1989, it initially sought to do what it says on the tin: offering artists a chance to unplug their electric instruments and deliver a different kind of performance.
At first, it was designed around showcasing up-and-coming artists, giving them a chance to shine and show off their versatility, but as it grew into its own beast, bigger, more stadium-conquering artists started to get involved, realising the opportunity that came with flexing different creative muscles in front of a live studio audience.
The first year saw a modest roundup of established artists and rising stars, including Neil Young, Joe Walsh, Squeeze, and The Smithereens, who was also joined by singer-songwriter Syd Straw, the first-ever female artist to perform on the show, but when you look at more notable moments, it was actually Sinéad O’Connor’s performance that really changed the game, especially when it came to the potential of the Unplugged stage to spotlight emotionally provocative musical performances and a deeper human connection through powerful renditions of her own songs.
Of course, hindsight proves how much the performance was also a precursor to O’Connor’s notable Saturday Night Live appearance, in which she proved that authenticity doesn’t always mean community in a stripped-back setting, but unity in a more anarchic way, even if it sparks career suicide and opens doors to endless public scrutiny.
For what it’s worth, Unplugged was always the perfect breeding ground for showing different sides of yourself, and while some opted for a quieter, more restrained approach than O’Connor, there was always a level of depth in the performances you couldn’t get anywhere else.
Moreover, it was also a fantastic way of monetising differently, all while bringing new audiences into your world and vision.
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