Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has a long list of people he had feuds with. One of the most famous names on the list is late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain. The two had their fair share of insults in front of thousands, and this led to the infamous rivalry between Nirvana and GN’R. But death can change it all and put other things into perspective. That’s why Rose’s reaction to Cobain’s tragic death may sound surprising.
Rose And Cobain Had A Feud
It all started when Axl Rose asked Nirvana to play at his birthday party and join Guns N’ Roses on tour with Metallica. Surprisingly, Kurt Cobain rejected both of his offers. Rose intended to discover their potential and somewhat help them out, so this made things worse before they even got a chance to build a friendship.
From that on, a heated feud started between the two. Rose insulted Cobain and his wife Courtney Love because of their addiction issues. He stated that it would be their fault if their baby girl was born ‘deformed,’ so they should end up in prison.
Things almost got physical during the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. Cobain and Love were just casually sitting with their baby. They saw Axl Rose walking by and asked if he’d be the godfather of their child. They first intended to make a joke, but it got the worst of Rose who started a fight by shouting, insulting, and threatening the couple. Their baby was with them, so the fight didn’t escalate. But the Nirvana singer made fun of Rose’s statements during his acceptance speech.
Cobain’s Death Hurt Rose
The GN’R frontman didn’t make any official statements following Kurt Cobain’s passing on April 5, 1994. Thanks to the band’s former records publicist Bryn Bridenthal, we now know how Axl Rose reacted to Cobain’s passing.
In the 2011 book, ‘Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge,’ Bryn revealed she’s the first person to tell Axl that Cobain died. The publicist revealed that she feared Rose might hurt himself after the news as he was going through tough times. It turns out he had a lot of empathy for Cobain and cared for him, so his death deeply affected Rose.
In the book, Bryn said:
“The first thing I did when I got back to my hotel room, was to call Axl because I was afraid of how the news might impact him. He was such an emotional roller coaster, I was afraid that Axl would hurt himself. He felt things really deep and felt a real connection there, even though there was no connection from the other side. I think he had a lot of empathy for Kurt. I was on the phone with Axl until about 3:00 in the morning.
Ultimately it was okay but I don’t remember that what was said because I’d had so many hours and hours of those kinds of conversations with him. One time, I got off the phone with him and my teeth were chattering and I felt like I was the aunt, how was the energy inside my head. We were just talking on a level that wasn’t there and now, it was just pure energy and out-of-body experience, and he said that my body acts like it’s freezing or something. It was just so intense.”
It’s surprising to hear Axl Rose had a genuine connection with Kurt Cobain, but Rose is an emotional person behind the angry rock star image he portrays quite often.
