Bush’s Gavin Rossdale talks settling past feuds with Dave Grohl and Trent Reznor

14 November, 2023

Gavin Rossdale of Bush, Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails

Bush‘s Gavin Rossdale had reflected on his old feuds with Dave Grohl and Trent Reznor, describing them as “stupid” and mere “bitchy exchanges”.

The vocalist and guitarist was speaking to NME in a recent Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?! quiz when he reflected on the past beef with his fellow musicians.

Rossdale’s feud with the Nirvana drummer/Foo Fighters vocalist and guitarist dated back to the ’90s after Grohl wore an anti-Bush T-shirt and implied that they were a cash-grab band, along with making some barbs in the press.

“Yeah, he wore a shirt which put the dollar sign through Bu$h – so we [the band and crew] later put similar dollar signs through our T-shirts. That was the gig I went up to Dave and said, ‘I don’t understand what the problem is. Isn’t any shades of your band [Nirvana] in us how it goes?’” Rossdale said.

He added: “I don’t sing like a hair-metal band like Poison, Mötley Crüe or Guns N’ Roses. I always thought grunge was just more aggressive post-punk music. There was never a cynical plan: as much as I loved the 4AD shoegaze bands, I never fell in love with their performances in the same way I did Perry Farrell.

“I always wanted the chaos of big guitars and people flying into cymbals, so it suited me to make music like that. I got into so much trouble for having what was seen as more of an American sound when – in the days of the louche cool of Suede in the UK – that was the most anti-commercial sound you could make.”

Rossdale went on to explain that the pair buried the hatchet and their children even ended up going to the same school so he “saw him at school assemblies for around five years”.

He continued to say that Grohl is “one of those people who gets along with everyone, and we had a bit of a skid back in the day”.

“The feud was obviously that Bush were doing well, Nirvana were dealing with Kurt [Cobain]’s death, and it was seen that there was a second-wave of that style of music [grunge] – and the first wave were mad at us, so it was inevitable, but it didn’t sustain for long. And I’ve recorded in his studio since and he’s been perfectly gracious to me.”

Rossdale concluded that “it happens” and “you’re kids and say things”.

He also revealed that he also “never used to get along” with Reznor of Nine Inch Nails yet they recently went to an immersive theatre dinner together. “You think: it was so stupid we had these bitchy exchanges back in the day,” he said.

Elsewhere in the interview Rossdale reflected on Bush’s second album, 1996’s ‘Razorblade Suitcase’, scoring just one out of 10 in NME.

“It broke my heart because I grew up reading NME, appreciating their opinion and they curated the best bands for me,” he said. “The way they would describe bands, I’d think: how can I ever reach these heights of what these great bands do to these journalists? And I guess as far as NME goes, I’ll never find out!” he said, laughing.

Bush recently released the new compilation record ‘Loaded: The Greatest Hits 1994-2023’. They’re also on a North American tour throughout November and December.

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