Pat Smear on the best guitar player in Nirvana
Among the vibrant rock scene of the 1990s, there are few names as legendary as Nirvana. Poster boys of Seattle’s grunge revolution, the Kurt Cobain-fronted trio indefinitely altered the landscape of American rock music through seminal releases like Nevermind and In Utero. Nirvana also helped to launch the career of future Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, whose musical talents were often overlooked within the grunge group.
At the forefront of Nirvana’s beloved sound was the incredible songwriting talents of frontman Kurt Cobain. An archetypal tortured artist, Cobain penned some of the most groundbreaking tracks of the 1990s, enjoying a level of success that still endures to this day. Secondary to his songwriting talents was his proficiency with the guitar. With his trusty Fender Mustang in hand, Cobain created a plethora of truly iconic guitar riffs, awash with grunge distortion and punk anger.
Despite Kurt’s legendary guitar playing, he once admitted to not being the greatest guitarist within the grunge trio. Although the group is best remembered for its popular lineup of Cobain, Grohl, and bassist Krist Novoselic, this was not an exhaustive list of Nirvana members. For instance, Grohl was not the band’s original drummer, though he did perform on their most popular releases. Elsewhere within the Nirvana line-up was The Germs founder Pat Smear, who joined the ranks of the group as a touring guitarist in 1993.
Smear is something of a legendary figure within the world of alternative rock and guitar-led music. As the lead guitarist and co-founder of Los Angeles punk rockers The Germs, Smear established himself as one of the most talented guitarists of the punk rock boom, perfectly suited to joining up with Nirvana, who themselves took huge inspiration from The Germs. Nevertheless, both Cobain and Smear attested that they were not the most proficient guitar players within the group.
Appearing on the Howard Stern Show alongside the Foo Fighters, who recruited Smear following the death of Kurt Cobain and the end of Nirvana, the touring guitarist recalled a moment from his time touring with Nirvana. “We’re backstage at a gig once and Dave’s noodling around on guitar,” Smear remembered, “And me and Kurt walked by and stared at him for a minute, and we go in the next room and we started laughing. We’re like ‘Oh my god, he’s better than both of us!’”
Following the tragic death of Cobain, Dave Grohl found an opportunity to expand upon his proficiency on guitar through the formation of the Foo Fighters. Often hailed as one of the greatest live bands currently in operation, Foo Fighters have enjoyed an intensely successful career spanning decades with Grohl’s songwriting and guitar stylings at the helm.
Smear left the band in 1997 before rejoining in the mid-noughties as a touring guitarist, in a similar role to the one he had held within Nirvana. Since 2010, Smear has been a permanent member of Grohl’s legendary rock outfit. Performing on the album Wasting Light, Smear contributed to the band’s first US number one album, earning them four Grammy Awards.
