Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett recently spoke to NME about a variety of topics including the band’s 2011 collaboration with Lou Reed, covering songs related to the cities the band performed in, the Lars Ulrich-inspired toilet crafted by a fan and his new “Portals” EP. He also spoke about late, legendary frontman Kurt Cobain and his disdain for Guns N’ Roses. Nirvana turned down the opening act slot for the 1992 Metallica/Guns N’ Roses tour.
Hammett revealed he called Cobain to try to persuade him to join the bill. “I had to make the phone call to Kurt to talk to him about the possibility of joining our tour, and he just went on and on about how he just didn’t like what Guns N’ Roses stood for and I said to him: ‘Just go out there and represent Nirvana — just play the show and then that’s it’,” Hammett said. “I pleaded with him, but he just wasn’t having it. So there you have it. It would have been great if Nirvana was part of that tour — but you know (the actual opening act) Faith No More were great as well.”
Hammett also spoke about Cobain and his wife Courtney Love attending a Metallica show in Seattle. “When we played Seattle on the ‘The Black Album’ tour, I remember calling Kurt to invite him to the show and he said to me: ‘Are you guys going to play ‘Whiplash’? That’s my favorite Metallica song’,” Hammett said. “When he came to the show, he was in the snakepit with Courtney Love and every time he walked by, he tried to get my attention but my head was somewhere else. He was great. I became friends with him right when the first Nirvana album (1989’s ‘Bleach’) came out before people were even calling it grunge, and it’s so sad when I think back to all the guy wanted to do was play guitar and write songs and sing and somehow that all got destroyed for him.”
Cobain often dissed Guns N’ Roses. He told Seconds in a 1991 interview: “We’re not your typical Guns N’ Roses type of band that has absolutely nothing to say.” The following year he told a Singapore publication: “Rebellion is standing up to people like Guns N’ Roses.” Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl also recalled GNR frontman Axl Rose being persistent about the band doing the tour. “Guns N’ Roses was about to do this massive stadium tour with Metallica, and they wanted us to open,” Grohl said. “So Axl had been calling Kurt nonstop. One day we’re walking through an airport and Kurt says, ‘F*ck. Axl Rose won’t stop calling me.'”
Cobain also blasted Axl in an interview with The Advocate calling him “a f*cking sexist and a racist and a homophobe, and you can’t be on his side and be on our side. I’m sorry that I have to divide this up like this, but it’s something you can’t ignore,” he said. “And besides they can’t write good music.”
- Slipknot’s New Drummer Speaks - May 1, 2024
- Major Update In Linkin Park Plans For 2025 - May 1, 2024
- Vince Neil Talks About Mötley Crüe Record He Hates - April 30, 2024
