Trent Reznor always regretted his feud with Chris Cornell: “Felt like a blow”
At one point or another, words have come out of all our mouths that we ultimately wish we could shove back in. It happens to the best of us – even Trent Reznor.
It might seem like an uncharacteristic thing to say in relation to the Nine Inch Nails frontman, given that he has racked up such a reputation as an inimitable force who will simply say whatever he likes, no matter whether that serves to ruffle a few feathers along the way. But deep down beneath that metallic coat of armour, there is a heart that works.
This is not a feeble attempt to overload Reznor with lavish praise for showing an act of humanity simply because he is a celebrity, but it does remain the case that when the man suddenly backtracks on something he’s said, it makes you stop and listen, and indeed, to this end, there was an occasion where Reznor realised he was left with no other choice but to eat his words.
The year was 2009, and completely separate from Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell had released his latest album, Scream, alongside the freshest R&B talent that was Timbaland, and while the unlikely pairing might have seemed like an innovative bridging of the gap to some, Reznor saw it as a blind leap down from Cornell’s usual standards, rather than a step. He had to make that known.
The trouble is, when you have grievances to air, the best place to do that is probably not Twitter. Nevertheless, the 120 characters of “You know that feeling you get when somebody embarrasses themselves so badly YOU feel uncomfortable? Heard Chris Cornell’s record? Jesus” appeared on Reznor’s timeline for all the world to see, until he was forced to hit the delete button.
Despite having his tail between his legs, the frontman tried to explain himself by telling Rolling Stone, “Seeing Chris do that record felt like a blow to me. I thought, ‘He’s above that, man. He’s one of the ten best vocalists of our time.’”
But even still, he wasn’t too big to admit where he had been overly harsh, saying he “immediately regretted” the social media jibe.
Confessing that he wrote to Cornell to apologise, Reznor then recalled: “He was very cool and generous about it – ‘It’s the past, fuck it. Let’s go on.’ The Chris I met on that tour was a gentleman that completely had his shit together.” The Soundgarden frontman’s impressive ability to let bygones be bygones was an important lesson to all in that context – words have weight, no matter how impenetrable the person is who you’re aiming them towards.
As much as Reznor expressed his guilt, it still has never exactly deterred him from making his feelings known, whether that be against anyone from The Beatles to Taylor Swift. But the thing was, Cornell was a hero. The Nine Inch Nails leader knew he could do so much better than stooping to the lowly heights of Timbaland. He thought he was doing him a favour by letting it be known.
Of course, there is much to say in terms of how the flinging around of unsolicited advice doesn’t actually help many people in the long run, but it seems Reznor might be turning a bit of a blind eye to that. Behind closed doors, there will always be many things he has lived to regret – but some have a bit more of a bitter memory than others.
