The late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain had been publicly vocal about his dislike for Guns N’ Roses. Metallica member Kirk Hammett recently reflected on the fact that Nirvana turned down the opening-act slot on a 1992 stadium tour featuring Metallica and Guns N’ Roses.
Kirk Hammett opens up on the matter
In a new interview with NME, Hammett talked about how Cobain had turned down the offer to share the stage with Guns N’ Roses back in 1992 as part of the Stadium Tour. He recalled how he had reached out to Cobain about the show but he was not in favor of the idea. Nirvana was not a part of the tour and it was Faith No More who played in the opening act.
Here is what he said:
“I had to make the phone call to Kurt [Cobain, Nirvana frontman] 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’. 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.”
Former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl later recalled that Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose personally requested the Cobain-fronted outfit to open the Guns N’ Roses Metallica bill.
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***. Axl Rose won’t stop calling me.'”
