Kirk Hammet interview on GN'R guys becoming "unacessible" and a "third party" account of the Axl feud with Kuurt Cobain

Just found this "outtake" from a new Kirk Hammet (Metallica's Guitarist) interview (Revolver magazine) where he talks at length about GN'R & Axl circa the Illusion era

I found particularly interesting what he had to say about the "Axl x Kurt" feud at the VMA's 1992

After reading this account I came here to see what you guys had on the subject and I was blown away (as usual!) by the immense amount of quotes that you guys were able to collect about it on the "Touring and Feuds" section of the GN'R history

I just love it!

https://www.a-4-d.com/t5000p30-15-may-december-1992-touring-and-feuds#19754

I think Kirk's quotes on the Axl x Cobain thing are very interesting

First of all, his "story" doesn't seem to be the same "story" that we all know where Courtney Love says "Axl do you wanna be the godfather of our child"... etc

It seems to be a separate incident, that probably happened after the "well known" incident

Second, Kirk story makes -- at least to me -- Axl look like a full-blown lunatic. So much so that Kirk says he was "so shaken up" by the whole thing that he had to leave.


Lars and I were there. Nirvana played. Axl was there. I think some of the guys in Guns N' Roses were there. I was sitting there talking to Kurt backstage, and all of a sudden fucking Axl walks up, sees me, and looks at Kurt and … I'm like, "Oh no!" And he goes right up to Kurt and says, "What's your problem, motherfucker, what's your problem!" And so Kurt's like, "Whatever, dude." … And [Axl's] like, "I'll fucking beat your ass. Come on. Let's go!"

And Kurt's just like, "Whatever, dude." [Laughs] … And then Axl backed up and [Axl's then-girlfriend, supermodel] Stephanie Seymour was there. She put her hand on his arm and kind of calmed him down, and he was just like, "Fuck you! … I'll kick your fucking ass." And Kurt's like, "Whatever." … Axl stormed off and Kurt looked at me and I was like, "Bro, that was fucking crazy." And Kurt's like, "Man, I don't know. That guy's nuts." And I was so shaken up. I said, "Kurt, man, I'm really sorry. I got to get out of here, man." He's like, "Yeah, man. That was just weird."


The complete Kirk story has a second encounter with Axl (!) and also some words on how the GNR guys became "inaccessible"

You can see it here = https://www.revolvermag.com/music/metallicas-kirk-hammett-witnessing-kurt-cobain-axl-rose-vmas-clash

I think those quotes add a nice colour to the story!

Also following a link from the Revolver magazine story to another story (Yahoo, 2020, including video) there are some quotes from Nirvana’s manager from 1990 to 1994, Danny Goldberg, about the thing

His quotes describe the events very similarly to others from the "Nirvana camp"

There is a priceless photo of Axl and his "posse" on the VMA's 1992



And then following another link there is yet another a quote from Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman on an Uproxx article here = https://uproxx.com/music/1992-vmas-mtv-looking-back/

“It was just in the air that there was this war going on,” he told me. “I remember the vibe actually being really serious. Do people actually care that a junkie and a poser are going to fight? I picture it now like the Anchorman fights.”

That's the same Steve Gorman who would "write" with Slash before Slash reconnected with Duff and Matt for Velvet Revolver

here = https://www.mygnrforum.com/topic/205826-slash-and-steve-gorman/

and here = https://www.mygnrforum.com/topic/220024-appetite-for-distortion-ep-49-steve-gorman-the-black-crowes/

but that is another link and another story!

Hope you guys find these quotes worth adding to this part of the GN'R story!

Thanks!

I don't think Kirk Hammet is describing a separate encounter between Axl and Kurt Cobain. It seems to me that he's talking about the same incident we've known, but probably didn't hear all the conversation. Or he just doesn't remember it well - and maybe he's exaggerating.

Hammet has also said something about what was going on backstage during the Montreal riot, which is different from what everybody else has said (including even other Metallica guys, Jason Newsted and Lars  Ulrich): he has painted a picture of the GnR guys (or just Axl) celebrating the riot and saying things like "they're burning cop cars, cool!" I have the suspicion that he was embellishing there, too.

Hmmm... interesting... Yeah, I guess you have a good point... you always have to take these quotes with 190 grains of salt...

I found interesting that he seems to have a "clear" memory of some events from that era like he mentions how GN'R did a the warm up show in LA (https://www.a-4-d.com/t1720-1991-05-11-pantages-theatre-los-angeles-usa)...

But I remember a lot of bands coming through: Priest, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses played a theatre show previewing their Use Your Illusion songs.

Then he gives a pretty detailed account of the three times that he called Kurt to convince him to join the 1992 GNR-Metallica tour and that "story" fits well with all the accounts that we have

Kurt doesn't want to do it, because he doesn't want to be affiliated with Guns N' Roses… [He] doesn't approve of Axl's behavior."

Kurt comes on and he's like … "Oh, I really don't want to do it. … I wouldn't feel right. It wouldn't feel comfortable."


Yes it could be the same incident, sure, but it looked to me distinctively different because...

- There is no mention of Courtney Love on this "story"

And on the "other" story everything started when Courtney saw Axl and asked him to be the godfather of their child etc...

Kirk says that "Axl goes right up to Kurt"...

- Kirk also mentions specifically that Kurt was talking to him, so it looks they were talking to each other like, apart from other people  

On the "other" story there seemed to be a lot of people around Kurt (the people who "laughed" when Cobain "obeyed" Axl's orders and said "shut up bitch" to Courtney)

Axl also seemed to have quite a few people (his "posse", his "goons" etc) around him on the "other" story. and everyone seems to mention that (it was Earl, Stephanie, Craig Duswalt, some video crew people and also Doug Goldstein said he was there too)

But Kirk only mentions Stephanie...

- But what really called my attention is that Kirk says he was "shaken up" by the whole thing. I am not a native English speaking person but "shaken up" means "shocked and upset", right? Apparently the altercation that Kirk witnessed was somehow "disturbing" to him.

The "other" incident, on the other side, ended up with everyone laughing thanks to Cobain and Courtney "replies" to Axl...

On Kirk's story, Cobain never really says anything, he just goes "whatever..." a few times, he doesn't give any incisive reply. And everyone from the "Nirvana camp" mentions how Cobain gave some "smart" replies to Axl (and Courtney gave some quick replies to Stephanie) on the "other" incident... and how those replies made people around them burst in laughter and made Axl get furious and split...

"I was sitting there talking to Kurt backstage, and all of a sudden fucking Axl walks up, sees me, and looks at Kurt and … I'm like, "Oh no!" And he goes right up to Kurt and says, "What's your problem, motherfucker, what's your problem!" And so Kurt's like, "Whatever, dude." … And [Axl's] like, "I'll fucking beat your ass. Come on. Let's go!"

And Kurt's just like, "Whatever, dude." [Laughs] … And then Axl backed up and [Axl's then-girlfriend, supermodel] Stephanie Seymour was there. She put her hand on his arm and kind of calmed him down, and he was just like, "Fuck you! … I'll kick your fucking ass." And Kurt's like, "Whatever." … Axl stormed off and Kurt looked at me and I was like, "Bro, that was fucking crazy." And Kurt's like, "Man, I don't know. That guy's nuts." And I was so shaken up. I said, "Kurt, man, I'm really sorry. I got to get out of here, man." He's like, "Yeah, man. That was just weird."

So having said all that it looks to me like a completely different incident...

My guess is that it was an Axl "reaction" or "rebuttal" to the "first" well-known incident... Like after the first incident, when Axl was coming back his trailer, he probably crossed ways (or made a point to cross ways) with Kurt again when Kurt was with Kirk.

So that is my two cents on that!

No idea how I can waste so much time of my life discussing this ridiculous incident.

I am glad there is some good music playing while I type this and I am glad that you guys exist and somehow care about GNR history too

===

And yes, Kirk's comments on the 1992 Montreal Riot are pretty weird as well... I guess this is the beauty of this type of "Oral History" that you guys are producing here... sometimes people stories from the same episode are completely opposite or conflicting... I love this!

===

Some more photos from that day to add some colour to the story
























and below is the exact moment Axl and his posse show up on the horizon...



   

You have some good points, too, @ludurigan.

But there's something else that makes me think it was probably the same incident: considering how much the Nirvana camp "milked" the VMA story in interviews afterwards, I would think that, if there had been a second encounter, Cobain wouldn't have passed on the opportunity to mention it and make Axl look even more "crazy," "uncool," etc.

I see...

I find interesting that you think that Nirvana milked that incident.

I always thought that it was the (very lazy!) press that milked that (and keeps on milking it to this day!)

And that Nirvana enjoyed it a lot to have a chance to badtalk Axl everytime the (lazy!) press asked them about it!

I also think Grohl is talking about the known incident.

Thanks for all the info, btw, ludurigan, I will look to this when I update the relevant chapter in the history section

Soulmonster wrote:I also think Grohl is talking about the known incident.

Thanks for all the info, btw, ludurigan, I will look to this when I update the relevant chapter in the history section

That is great man, I am glad that this info is useful.

I am back in the "GN'R world" after a bit of a hiatus and I am happy to be able to hang around here in this amusement park of all things GN'R with the good company of you guys and other fellow GN'R lovers!

I am a newish Guns And Roses fan, and my eyebrows were raised when a Gun And Roses fan wrote something like,"I wonder what Kurt Cobain thought of Axl's wild antics at the infamous St Louis Concert in 1991. Another Guns And Roses fan replied something like,"Kurt and Axl Rose didn't like each other all that much, but I'm sure Kurt laughed at Axl's wild antics that night!"

I personally didn't know Axl and Kurt were ever feuding....

Karice wrote:I am a newish Guns And Roses fan, and my eyebrows were raised when a Gun And Roses fan wrote something like,"I wonder what Kurt Cobain thought of Axl's wild antics at the infamous St Louis Concert in 1991. Another Guns And Roses fan replied something like,"Kurt and Axl Rose didn't like each other all that much, but I'm sure Kurt laughed at Axl's wild antics that night!"

I personally didn't know Axl and Kurt were ever feuding....

If you read the "History of GN'R as told by GN'R" on this site, you'll soon know more than many old fans do

https://www.a-4-d.com/t4924-02-global-index