Nirvana fans were in for a surprise last month when the remaining members of the band performed for the first time in decades. While Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Pat Smear were without the great Kurt Cobain, a somewhat unexpected singer stepped in to take the mic. Beatles alum Paul McCartney performed with the band members twice -- at the 12-12-12 benefit concert for Hurricane Sandy, and on "SNL."
While many Nirvana faithfuls were happy to see the band together in any form, some, including Cobain's former wife, Courtney Love, were less than pleased with the inclusion of McCartney.
"We started playing for the first two hours, maybe, we were so in awe of Paul that we forgot about Nirvana," Grohl said in an interview with Rolling Stone. "It took a few hours before I realized, wait a minute . . . we haven't done this in maybe 20 years, Krist and Pat and I – wow, how cool. And f----n' Paul is here, too."
For his part, Grohl spoke about what an impact that Beatles had on music. "The funny thing about musicians from that generation is that they're pioneers," he said. "The reason why they changed the world is that they were doing something that no one else was doing, and they weren't scared to do it. It's our generation that gets safe with music. A lot of people from my generation of music are so focused on playing things correctly or to perfection that they're stuck in that safe place. They're not willing to, like, f----n' get rad. And Paul definitely is."
The history of Nirvana (as well as that of McCartney, Fleetwood Mac, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Neil Young) was celebrated at the Sundance Film Festival this week. "Sound City," a documentary led by Grohl, tells the story of the famed California recording studio that produced some of music's biggest albums. "Sound City" is set for a Feb. 1 release.
For more, head over to Rolling Stone.
