Nirvana and Aerosmith are certainly two of the greatest bands that would not necessarily be seen as natural bedfellows. The grunge rockers are often positioned as the force that killed the ’80s rock and hair metal scene. Joe Perry has now opened up on Nirvana legend Kurt Cobain.
Joe Perry comments on meeting Kurt Cobain
Now, in a recent interview with Classic Rock magazine (via Louder), Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has discussed the time he met Cobain backstage after a show in Seattle in the early ’90s.
“He was pretty quiet. He just wanted to hang out,” recalls Perry. “He came in the dressing room with Courtney [Love] and kind of just sat around with us. He was a normal guy.
“When he went off to the bathroom, Courtney – who was very verbal – said: ‘He loves you guys. He doesn’t like anybody, but he loves you guys.‘ I had nothing but respect for the guy. He was an amazing songwriter and performer, and to hear that was great.”
It has been noted that Courtney Love’s reported comment tallies with what has been known of the Nirvana man’s musical tastes. Cobain included the band’s 1976 album Rocks in his top 50 albums of all time – a list that was documented and reproduced in the Kurt Cobain Journals book.
He also named an early Nirvana demo Aero Zeppelin, noting – again, in his journals – that the song was not about the groups themselves, but was named in homage to “a couple of our favorite masturbatory ’70s rock acts”.
Meanwhile, Perry took on one of his own icon’s tracks when he performed Jeff Beck signature tune Beck’s Bolero in New York, recently.