Nirvana v Guns N’ Roses: What led to the war of words the week Kurt Cobain would have turned 58?

• The late Kurt Cobain would have turned 58 this week (February 20 2025).
• Guns N’ Roses are also set to tour the United Kingdom later this year.
• So it seems fitting to look back at one of the ‘90s heated war of words, and how different musical ideals led to tension.

Yesterday (February 20 2025) would have been Kurt Cobain’s 58th birthday, which makes you wonder what the Nirvana frontman would think of the state of music right now.

Kurt was a fervent supporter of counter-culture, with the cultural icon at many points discussing his disdain for the music business and the idea of celebrity in music - a constant theme during his interviews.

While Nirvana were on the up before Nevermind catapulted them into music history, another rock act were at the top of their game after the success of Appetite For Destruction and their 1991 album(s) Use Your Illusion - Guns N’ Roses.

Led by Axl Rose, the frontman also felt a level of contempt towards the music business, and perhaps his interview with Rolling Stone in 1992 would prophesize the issues Kurt has with the business: “"Fame is a funny thing. It can be really great and give you a lot of things that you want, but it can also make you really miserable and take away a lot of things that are real."

So how did two counter-cultural icons of the time, who seemed to have more in common than they’d give each other credit for, get embroiled in a nasty spat in the early ‘90s that would also explode at an awards ceremony in 1992?

This is the short but by no means sweet story about when Kurt Cobain and Axl Rose engaged in a brief and almost bloody feud.

What led to the feud between Nirvana and Guns N’ Roses?

What led to the feud between Guns N' Roses Axl Rose and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain - with shots fired from Courtney Love for good measure? | Getty Images

Different and yet somewhat similar - Nirvana’s rise and Guns N’ Roses on top

Despite Kurt’s comments during the start of the feud between the two bands, both he and Axl Rose did share a similar upbringing: Axl, born in Lafayette, Indiana, came from a difficult childhood marked by poverty and domestic violence, while Kurt, from Aberdeen, Washington, had a similarly fractured upbringing marked by parental divorce and isolation.

Naturally, both found refuge in rock music, which became their outlet for expressing their anger, frustration, and rebellious spirit.

Guns N' Roses were known for their raw, glam-infused brand of hard rock that heavily drew from punk energy, while Nirvana introduced a new wave of grunge music, blending punk rock with heavy metal.

Despite these differences in musical style, both bands were seen as anti-establishment, with their music providing a voice for those disillusioned with mainstream culture.

Axl Rose spoke warmly about Nirvana during a 1991 interview with Melody Maker, stating: "I think Nirvana are a great band, I really like their music, and I think Kurt Cobain is a great writer. I don’t know him personally, but I admire his music a lot."

You would have thought both men might be kindred spirits, however, their musical ideologies would put them at odds.

Kurt Cobain’s disdain for ‘sell outs’ like Guns N’ Roses

As Nirvana gained popularity with their groundbreaking album Nevermind, Kurt Cobain’s outspoken, anti-commercial sentiments became more evident. He wanted Nirvana to be a band that represented a ‘real’ alternative to the overblown, excess-driven rock stars like Axl Rose.

In interviews, Kurt publicly critiqued bands like Guns N' Roses for what he saw as their embrace of the excesses and ‘sell-out’ mentality that he abhorred. Kurt’s distaste for the glam and rock star persona that Guns N' Roses represented was a reflection of his desire to bring authenticity back to rock music.

In an interview with Rolling Stone back in 1992, Cobain said of the GnR frontman: “"There’s always going to be an Axl Rose in the music world. There’s always going to be people like him. He represents a certain kind of rock star, and it’s going to be around forever, but I don’t want to be that.”

He followed that up with another comment made during an earlier interview in 1991 with NME, stating: "I don’t think Guns N’ Roses represents anything, except for this bloated ego rock star s***."

Meanwhile, Axl saw himself as an outsider fighting against the commercial machine, despite his own rock star persona. For Axl, bands like Nirvana threatened the status quo by preaching an image of anti-ambition, something that clashed with the hard-earned success he had built with Guns N' Roses.

Nirvana turn down overtures to tour with Guns N’ Roses

Despite the friction, Axl Rose didn’t back down easily. In 1992, Guns N' Roses were at the height of their fame, and they were embarking on a massive stadium tour with Metallica. Axl thought that Nirvana, being one of the biggest alternative bands at the time, would be a perfect fit as an opening act for such a grand-scale tour.

This would have been a huge opportunity for Nirvana, but Kurt was resolute in his refusal, rejecting the tour offer, frustrated by Axl’s persistent calls and what he saw as the band's "corporate" ways.

As Kurt would describe in an interview with Guitar World in 1992: "Axl Rose kept calling me, asking me to go on tour with them. I just didn’t want to be a part of their corporate rock world. I felt like it was the opposite of everything I was trying to do with Nirvana."

Axl was reportedly frustrated by Kurt’s refusal to join the tour, and this rejection only worsened their relationship. Despite the animosity, however, Axl’s desire to work with Nirvana hinted at a deeper respect for the band's artistic influence, even if it wasn’t reciprocated.

GnR bassist Duff McKagan explained in 1992: "Axl was p****d about Kurt not wanting to tour with us. He really wanted Nirvana on the road with us. But, I think Axl respected them, and that’s why he wanted to do it. He knew that Nirvana was changing the game."

Axl Rose launches attack on Courtney Love

US actress and rock singer Courtney Love arrives for the 69th Academy Awards ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles 24 March. Courtney Love starred in "The People vs. Larry Flynt," which received two Oscar nominations. | AFP via Getty Images

As the tension continued to mount, Axl Rose took his disdain for Kurt and Courtney Love to a personal level.

In a notorious on-stage rant in at GnR’s show at Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri, on July 2, 1992, Rose called Cobain a “junkie” with a “junkie wife” and that if their child, Frances Bean Cobain, was deformed “I think they both oughta go to prison.”

Courtney Love, for her part, did not take Axl’s insults lying down. In response, she was quoted in Rolling Stone as saying: “Axl's just mad because he's not Kurt Cobain. He’s threatened by Kurt's success. The only reason Axl was successful was because he was this corporate creation—no soul, no heart.”

Duff shared his thoughts on the growing animosity in his autobiography, It's So Easy (and Other Lies): “Axl was very frustrated by Kurt’s refusal to come on tour with us. I think, in some ways, he really respected Kurt’s music, but he felt completely disrespected by Kurt’s public comments. It was like a slap in the face to Axl.”

As much as Axl's tirade fueled the media fire, it also revealed a deeper, unresolved conflict about the direction of rock music and its future. For Cobain, the battle was ideological—an attempt to reject the commercialism and excess represented by the likes of Guns N' Roses.

For Axl, it was more personal and reactive, shaped by both his own insecurities and frustration at being dismissed by the new guard of alternative rock.

The Battle of Los Angeles

The MTV Video Music Awards in 1992 were the setting for the infamous showdown between the two bands and where the war of words would reach their peak.

Axl Rose and his then-girlfriend, Stephanie Seymour, walked past Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, and their newborn daughter, Frances Bean. When Courtney Love jokingly suggested that Axl should be Frances’ godfather, Axl reportedly exploded, threatening Kurt with violence.

Cobain, speaking to Rolling Stone in September 1992, recalls: ““Axl Rose came up to me, and he was furious. He was saying, ‘You shut your b**** up, or I’ll take you down to the pavement!’ And I said, ‘Shut up, b****,’ to Courtney. It was just all so stupid. I don’t even know why it happened.”

While this backstage exchange was a reflection of the personal animosities that had built up between the two, it also served as a microcosm of the larger divide between rock’s "old guard" (represented by Guns N' Roses) and the emerging alternative scene (represented by Nirvana).

In his autobiography, Duff reflected on the MTV VMAs incident and the tension that had been building between the two groups: “Axl wasn’t happy about what was happening with Kurt and Courtney. The truth is, Axl was always trying to protect his band, and the whole ‘alternative rock’ thing started making him feel alienated.

He never got why Kurt hated Guns N’ Roses so much, especially when we were offering him the opportunity to tour with us. The VMAs were the culmination of this growing resentment.”

After the incident, Nirvana performed Lithium at the awards, and Dave Grohl added his own playful jab at Axl by repeatedly shouting “Hi, Axl!” into the microphone during the performance.

This was both a subtle dig and a public acknowledgment of the ongoing feud, demonstrating how deeply the animosity had embedded itself in the public consciousness - though for some of us Nirvana fans, the more memorable moment was Krist Novoselic forgetting to move when he threw his bass up in the air.

The End of the Feud: A Surprising Twist

Fast forward to a decade after their peak, and the rivalry between Kurt Cobain and Axl Rose had largely faded. By the mid-2000s, with Nirvana’s legacy firmly cemented and Axl Rose focusing on reviving Guns N' Roses, the two bands had little to do with each other.

However, a surprising twist came when Axl Rose showed gratitude toward Nirvana’s former drummer, Dave Grohl.

During a Guns N' Roses show in Las Vegas, Grohl lent Axl his throne (used during Foo Fighters performances), a gesture that led to Axl tweeting his thanks: "Huge thank you to Dave Grohl for the use of his rock throne! An amazing gesture! Words aren't enough! Makes all the difference up there!"

Additionally, Dave Grohl acknowledged the situation with a sense of humor, noting that after lending his throne to Axl Rose and previously to AC/DC's Brian Johnson, he became the go-to person for rock stars needing a throne during recovery.

Though Cobain himself had passed away in 1994, the public reconciliation of sorts between Axl and Dave Grohl was symbolic of how both men — and the music industry at large — had evolved since their feuding days in the early '90s.

In Duff’s own words during an interview with Classic Rock in 2005: "After Kurt died, we all sort of reflected on the whole thing. I know Axl felt bad. He wasn’t the monster that people thought he was. He had his own demons, and I think after Kurt passed away, it really hit home for Axl just how fragile everything is."

It’s a reminder that even the bitterest of feuds can eventually fade with time, though the impact they left behind still resonates in the rock world.

Guns N’ Roses are set to perform two shows in the United Kingdom in 2025, playing Birmingham’s Villa Park on June 23 2025 and then Wembley Stadium in London on June 26 2025. For tickets and more details, visit Ticketmaster UK.