Dave Grohl has spoken out about his insecurities during his time with Nirvana – claiming he became worried that Kurt Cobain wanted him out of the band.
Grohl told Rolling Stone he felt like an outsider within the band due to the longstanding bond between Cobain and bass player Krist Novoselic.
Grohl said: “I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone this, but there were times when Kurt was really unhappy with the way I played drums. I could hear him talking about how much he thought I sucked. But he’d never say it to me. If I’d confront him about it – ‘Is there a problem? If you want me to leave, just ask’ – he’d say ‘No, no, no.’ Most of that happened later, around ‘In Utero’ (the band’s last studio album, released in 1993). That’s when I think Kurt became unhappy with what was happening in the band.”
Explaining the relationships within the band, he continued: “When I joined Nirvana I was the fifth or sixth drummer – I don’t know if they’d ever had a drummer they were totally happy with. And they were strangers. There was never much of a deeper connection outside of the music. Krist and Kurt had a legendary lifetime connection.
“Those guys were soulmates. They’d been through so much together, from Aberdeen to the success of ‘Nevermind’. They fuckin’ shared everything, and they were the kind of friends that didn’t have to talk to each other – they just knew. I never really shared that moment with them because I came from such a different place, and within eight months to a year of being in Nirvana, the band blew up into something that no-one had expected. It was hard to connect with anybody when that happened.
“Kurt was so many different things. He was funny or shy or this outgoing, larger-than-life persona. He could be sweet or he could be fucking wicked. He could be intimidating. I thought I was a decent drummer, but I didn’t know if I was good enough to be doing this thing, this big deal. I didn’t imagine myself a world-class drummer.”
Scroll down the page to watch an interview with Dave Grohl.
50 things you never knew about Nirvana
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