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The Seattle grunge movement was instrumental in popularising alternative rock in the mainstream, with Nirvana becoming one of the leaders of the genre. After forming in the 1980s, the band picked up greater steam as they entered the ‘90s, finding widespread commercial success with their anthem for disillusioned youth, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’.
Taken from their sophomore album, Nevermind, released in 1991, the record became one of the best-selling of all time – quite the feat for an alt-rock band. Powered by Kurt Cobain’s lyrical explorations of nonconformity and isolation, accompanied by abrasive, heavy instrumentation, Nevermind solidified Nirvana as one of the most important American bands ever.
Their third and final studio album, In Utero, emerged in 1993, less than a year before Cobain would be found dead from a self-inflicted gun wound. The band’s tenure was short, but their influence was monumental, inspiring swathes of young musicians in their wake.
However, not everyone was so keen on the trio, with several popular musicians outwardly sharing their disdain for the band’s music – or members.
Five artists that hate Nirvana:
Guns ‘N’ Roses
When Cobain was still alive, he found himself in an ongoing feud with Axl Rose from Guns ‘N’ Roses, and it is not hard to see why the open-minded Cobain was not a fan of the musician. Cobain frequently called out Rose for his lyrics, telling The Advocate that “the guy is a fucking sexist and a racist and a homophobe.”
Their feud lasted a while, with many incidents occurring from either side, such as Rose calling Cobain and Courtney Love “junkies” before adding, “If the baby is born deformed, I think they both ought to go to prison.” Cobain even recalled (via Louder Sound) that after Love retaliated following these comments, Rose said to the Nirvana frontman, “You shut your bitch up, or I’m taking you down to the pavement.”
Malcolm Young
Malcolm Young from AC/DC was another popular musician who disliked Nirvana, but he never feuded with the band. It might come as a bit of a surprise that a member of a hard rock band hated the sound of Nirvana’s music, which was inherently abrasive and loud, but he really didn’t like it.
Young once revealed in an interview with Metal CD that he thought the “blond feller” was a “bit of a poser,” referring to the Nirvana singer. Meanwhile, Cobain was always on the fence with AC/DC’s music, finding himself a fan of the instrumentation but not the lyrics.
Jay Jay French
Jay Jay French, the guitarist of Twisted Sister, has a lot more to say about Nirvana. He appeared on Daniel Sarkissian’s YouTube channel in 2020, where he bluntly discussed what he thought of Nirvana when it first emerged. “I saw them play on SNL and thought they sucked. I was like ‘this band can’t play.’”
He continued, “That was my gut reaction because we came from the bar scene where we had to be great every single night. When I saw bands that got up there and looked stoned like they didn’t care, I had no respect for that.”
Mick Jagger
The Rolling Stones were pioneers of a new era of popular music, emerging in the 1960s with the desire to redefine the rock genre, subsequently becoming one of the best-selling bands of all time. However, lead singer Mick Jagger didn’t seem to see that Nirvana were doing a similar thing a few decades later, instead writing them off.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1995, Jagger lamented the state of rock music, adding that, while he liked Pearl Jam, he didn’t appreciate Nirvana. “I was never crazy about Nirvana — too angst-ridden for me.”
Gene Simmons
As one of the lead singers of Kiss, Gene Simmons became one of the faces of the shock rock movement which dominated the 1970s, often including questionable, sometimes misogynistic, lyrics in their songs. Cobain’s view of Kiss was similar to AC/DC, citing himself as a fan of the music but not a particular champion of all their lyrics.
It might be a stretch to say that Simmons hates Nirvana, but he didn’t hold back in commenting on Cobain’s legendary status, telling Team Rock Radio that there will never be bands as big as “Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, [and] the Who” anymore.
He added, “Kurt Cobain – no, that’s one or two records. That’s not enough. What, just cause you died makes you an icon? No.”
