The Darkness singer Justin Hawkins recalled famous musician Nick Cave’s response to MTV about a nomination on his Justin Hawkins Rides Again Youtube channel. The musician shared his ideas about his decision and revealed if he found it right or sensible.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released their ninth studio album ‘Murder Ballads’ on February 5, 1996, and it received positive reviews from music critics and fans. The record consisted of the best examples of the murder ballad, the traditional ballad subgenre which reflects crime, passion, and death. Also, Cave’s collaborations with Kylie Minogue, PJ Harvey, and Shane MacGowan contributed to their legacies.
Especially, his duet with Minogue in ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’ hit charts worldwide, and their harmony helped it become a Cave classic. As a result of this success and popularity, the singer was nominated for Best Male Artist as part of the MTV Awards. Even though most musicians would be happy about it, Nick Cave’s reaction was different. The musician wrote a rejection letter to MTV and stated that he didn’t want to compete with anyone or receive any award.
Cave explained the reason behind that, saying his relationship with his muse was too delicate to let his works turn into horses in a horse race. Justin Hawkins recently drew attention to the letter and the singer’s words and said it wasn’t easy to do, considering MTV’s influence on record sales and record companies’ pressure. However, the Darkness icon admitted that Cave was bold enough to refuse it, which made him a winner.
In Hawkins’ words, he said:
“I mean, that’s a brilliant letter. I think politically it would be very difficult to get this over the line if you’re asking for your record company’s approval to refuse such a nomination. You see him on TV, don’t you? He does things like Jools Holland. He has been in movies, playing the game to a certain extent, but this one is a winner.”
You can check out the interview and song below.
