Kurt Cobain was a grunge god, but he was also a fan of music from all genres. There were two classic rock titans that he ultimately turned his back on. As for why he stopped being a fan of these bands he once admired, Cobain cited the “sexism” in their lyrics.
Back in 1993, Cobain sat down for an interview with Jon Savage. During the chat, he mentioned that he’d liked music by Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin when he was younger. He was turned off as a teenager, though, once he realized there was a lot of objectification in the songs.
The Nirvana frontman specifically called out Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin for their sexist lyrics
“Although I listened to Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, and I really did enjoy some of the melodies they’d written, it took me so many years to realize that a lot of it had to do with sexism,” Cobain said. “The way that they just wrote about their d**ks and having sex.
“I was just starting to understand what really was pissing me off so much those last couple years of high school. And then punk rock was exposed, and then it all came together,” he added. “It just fit together like a puzzle. It expressed the way I felt socially and politically. Just everything. You know. It was the anger that I felt. The alienation.”
Steven Tyler reportedly once tried to help Kurt Cobain quit drugs
Interestingly, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler once tried to help Kurt Cobain kick his drug habit. This is according to the book Everybody Loves Our Town, a definitive oral history of grunge.
In the music book, Gold Mountain Entertainment’s Janet Billig recalled the story, as per an account from Louder. “Right when it started coming out that Kurt was doing drugs, I remember Steven Tyler called and wanted to help,” Billig remembered. “I told Kurt, Holy s**t, Steven Tyler called my office and he wants to help you. Can I give him your number?’”
It was at this point that Coabin fired back with a reply that’s both tragic and morbidly funny. “He was like, ‘Steven Tyler got to be a junkie for 18 f**kin’ years. I’ve only been doing drugs for an hour,’” Billig shared.
Sadly, Kurt Cobain died by suicide in 1994. The medical examiner reported finding morphine in his blood.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage
The post Why Kurt Cobain Turned His Back on Two Classic Rock Titans He Once Admired: ‘A Lot of It Had to Do With Sexism’ appeared first on VICE.
