Former Guns N’ Roses manager Doug Goldstein claimed that recently retired Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis angrily turned down and ‘fucked up’ a potential tour with U2, Pearl Jam, and Guns N’ Roses in the early 90’s.
Goldstein told Appetite for Distortion, “He validates my rendition of the story which is – I talked to the manager Kelly Curtis from a Quonset hut in Tel Aviv, Israel, when we were flying there. And I asked him to ‘Please, pick up.’ He said, ‘No, I’m busy.’ And I said, ‘OK, well, Axl’s come up with this great idea and I want to find out if you guys are into it.’
And he said no! And I said, ‘Well, hang on a second, don’t you have a responsibility to talk to your band members? When an idea comes into me, I at least discuss it with the band…And he said, ‘Don’t tell me how to do my fucking job.’ So, for Stone [Gossard] to not have heard about it – like I said, all that does merely validate what I had said which is the manager didn’t even discuss it with the band.”
“As Stone was saying, those are the two biggest bands in the world at the time. And Axl and his point of, ‘Gee, I want to make it happen so bad – all open! You don’t even have to play us, I just want it to happen.’ Managers, yet again, can really fuck up the cool idea.”
Ultimate-Guitar transcribed Goldstein’s comments. Axl Rose was a huge fan of Grunge bands in the early 90’s including Pearl Jam and Nirvana, even wearing a Nirvana hat before Kurt Cobain dissed him in the media, beginning an ugly feud that culminated in a confrontation at the MTV VMA’s, with Axl insulting Courtney Love.
