According to Nirvana’s official biographer Michael Azerrad, Kurt Cobain was “jealous” of his friend and drummer Dave Grohl.
Azerrad will release a deluxe edition of Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, his official Nirvana biography, on October 24th. The updated text, “The Amplified Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana,” is described as “a unique book that contains hundreds of new essay-style notes that deepen our understanding of this legendary band and the period within it.” it existed’.
To raise awareness of the book and discuss the 30th anniversary of Nirvana’s album “In Utero,” Azerrad recently appeared on Rolling Stone’s “Music Now” podcast alongside author Brian Hiatt. One of the topics covered is the relationship between Cobain and Dave Grohl. In the original book Come As You Are, Azerrad quoted Cobain calling Dave Grohl’s guitar riff on In Utero’s “Scentless Apprentice” “stupid.”
“I honestly found it a bit condescending,” admits Azerrad.
Brian Hiatt then mentions another quote from Cobain in which he says of his friend, “Dave is the most level-headed guy in the whole world.”
“I think Kurt was partly making fun of Dave because he was pretty level-headed and normal,” Azerrad says. “He’s really a popular, level-headed guy. And I think Kurt was partly making fun of it because he wasn’t a monster like Kurt. And he was jealous too. I think Kurt was a little jealous of Dave because Dave was doing well.
The author recounted that Cobain spoke about firing Dave Grohl in 1993, a story that the Foo Fighters frontman himself referenced in a Vulture interview in 2021, although his side of the story is slightly different.
“We were on our way to Los Angeles to begin production rehearsals for the In Utero tour, and I was sitting a few rows in front of Kurt and Krist,” he recalled. “I heard Kurt say, ‘I think we need a simpler drummer like Dan Peters.’ [de Mudhoney]“Who was the guy they almost hired when I joined the band? I was really upset because I thought everything was fine. I talked to Krist and said, “Is this really what you want to do?” Because if that’s what you want, let me know and we can leave it at that. Finally I told Kurt about it and he said, “No, that’s not what we want to do.” I thought it was up to you to decide what kind of drummer you really want, and they decided that I should stay should.”
Listen to the full Rolling Stone Music Now podcast below: