The five artists that the members of Nirvana couldn’t stand
Nirvana are one of the most influential bands to ever pick up instruments.
In Seattle, it rains for most of the year, and there was never any kind of set music scene until the ‘90s. It meant that a lot of the music to come out of the city was cutting-edge, reminiscent of specific movements, but in no way a carbon copy of them. This is what essentially gave rise to grunge. It was rock, without a doubt, but injected with added elements of longing and angst.
Nirvana were the band that took what was a popular genre and made it the biggest in the world. Their sound was packed with an energy that no other band at the time was channelling, and their lyrics were cutthroat and opinionated. That second element trickled into the band on a personal level as well as an artistic one. Nirvana were never worried about making their opinions on different artists and movements known, and these comments were often pretty ruthless.
Out of all of them, there are some which really stand out, as the members of Nirvana didn’t hold back in making it clear who they couldn’t stand.
Five artists that Nirvana hated:
Axl Rose
Yes, you can add Nirvana to the long list of people who seem to hate Axl Rose. It turns out, Rose wasn’t a fan of theirs either, but his hatred seemed to stem from the band refusing to support Guns N’ Roses on tour, rather than any kind of artistic standpoint. Nirvana made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with the band and Rose, and so the frontman lashed out, specifically at Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love and their child.
He said, “If the baby is born deformed, I think they both ought to go to prison.”
They’re incredibly horrible comments, and ones that Kurt Cobain responded to in full. “The guy is a fucking sexist and a racist and a homophobe,” he said, “And you can’t be on his side and be on our side.”
Rick Springfield
The main member of Nirvana who had an issue with Rick Springfield was Dave Grohl, and his grumblings actually arose after Nirvana had split. When Grohl was trying to make it as an artist in Foo Fighters, he grew tired of being compared to other artists attempting to latch onto a scene which had passed.
With Foo Fighters, Grohl was trying to make something completely different to Nirvana, and so the fact he was often used to advertise the grunge movement, even though his current music didn’t remotely sit in that remit, infuriated him. When he was voicing his frustration with the whole thing, he let his thoughts on Rick Springfield slip.
“You know,” he said, “Rick Springfield was a rock star, but really he was a poster boy who made music.”
Pearl Jam
You might be surprised to see Pearl Jam on this list, given that they and Nirvana are often credited for being two of the main bands who helped spearhead the grunge movement; however, despite being involved in the same genre, it turns out Nirvana weren’t fans of their counterparts. They had nothing against Pearl Jam as people, but it was the music that really grated on them.
“Those bands have been in the hairspray/cockrock scene for years, and all of a sudden they stop washing their hair and start wearing flannel shirts. It doesn’t make any sense to me,” said Cobain, “There are bands moving from LA and all over to Seattle and then claim they’ve lived there all their life so they can get record deals. It really offends me.”
Jerry Garcia
In the opening to Nirvana’s song ‘Territorial Pissings’, Krist Novoselic sings part of The Youngbloods’ 1967 hit ‘Get Together’. It feels as though he is doing this in a mocking tone, taking aim at the hippy movement with his rendition.
“Maybe some baby boomers will hear that and wonder what happened to those ideals,” he said.
This is in line with the band’s disdain towards The Grateful Dead and their frontman, Jerry Garcia. Kurt Cobain once made it pretty clear that he hated the whole hippy scene, all the way down to the tie-dye shirts. “I wouldn’t wear a tie-dyed tee-shirt,” he said, “Unless it was dyed with the urine of Phil Collins and the blood of Jerry Garcia.”
Bon Jovi
The public continues to adore Bon Jovi. Once the band announced that they were going back on tour again, tickets flew out the door as people grew excited about watching the rock band take to the stage. Kurt Cobain didn’t share this sentiment, as even when he was alive and the band were a lot more sprightly, he wanted nothing to do with them.
“I don’t even find myself having many opinions on bands anymore, because I don’t know these people,” he said, “Bon Jovi could be one of the nicest people in the world. His music sucks, but I don’t even want to bother with expressing those kinds of opinions anymore.”
