Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder got in a war of words earlier this year after Vedder slammed the ’80s rock scene and the Crüe in particular. In an interview with the New York Times, Vedder talked about “being at shows that I wouldn’t have chosen to go to” while working as a stage hand in the ’80s. “You know, I used to work in San Diego loading gear at a club,” Vedder said. “I’d end up being at shows that I wouldn’t have chosen to go to — bands that monopolized late-’80s MTV. The metal bands that — I’m trying to be nice — I despised. “Girls, Girls, Girls” and Mötley Crüe: F*ck you. I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous.”
But what I don’t understand is why’s the guy even talking about my band? He’s a successful guy.
Nikki Sixx on Eddie Vedder
Sixx fired back after fans tweeted him Vedder’s comments saying “Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in PEARL JAM hated @MotleyCrue. Now considering that they’re one of the most boring bands in history it’s kind of a compliment isn’t it?” He also told the Pearl Jam singer it sounded like he was singing with “marbles in your mouth.”
Sixx recently elaborated on the feud in a new interview. “I’m not trying to be the guy that wrote ‘Bastard,’ ’cause I’m not the guy that wrote ‘Bastard’. I wrote that song about somebody that ripped us off. I am the guy that if you fuck with me, I will fuck with you back. And that’s what that song is about. You take a swipe at my band; I’ll take a swipe at your band. You try to hurt my family, which is my band; I will try to hurt you. That’s not something to be proud about (laughs).”
Sixx commented specifically about why he felt he had to respond to Vedder’s comments. “I remember going to MTV with (a copy of Nirvana’s) ‘Nevermind’ before it had come out. Me and Tommy were on there. We were, like, ‘Hey, you guys gotta check out this band. You gotta check out this band.’ And they were bands that were coming. I remember having a cassette — I think it was demos; it might not have been; it might have been early recordings — for Rage Against the Machine, and I remember telling everybody about that. We’ve never been afraid to embrace music changing because that’s the whole idea behind music. If you listen to ‘Too Fast For Love’ and then you listen to ‘The Dirt’, you’re, like, ‘Well, it’s the same band, but it has grown.’ So we never had a problem with that.
“My only thing is, you wanna take a crack at my band, I’m probably gonna say something back. But what I don’t understand is why’s the guy even talking about my band? He’s a successful guy. Listen, let’s face it: the guy flies around in private jets; he lives in a mansion in a gated community; he sells out stadiums; and then he dresses at the thrift store and tries to pretend some guy in the ’90s. Don’t take a swipe at my band, dude. I mean, I’m at least being honest.”
