During the mid-1980s, an alternative rock music genre named grunge emerged mainly in Seattle, and that’s why it gained recognition as the Seattle rock music scene by both musicians and music critics. The genre was so popular that it became a subculture and greatly influenced rock musicians and fans. Grunge’s popularity increased more and more thanks to its unique sound and well-crafted lyrics, exploring challenging themes such as social alienation, self-doubt, abuse, neglect, and betrayal.
Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and Stone Temple Pilots can be considered the pioneering bands of the Seattle grunge scene. However, Pearl Jam was different from the other bands because they gained great fame and popularity as soon as they released their debut studio album entitled ‘Ten’ on August 27, 1991. After this breakthrough, Pearl Jam and especially its frontman Eddie Vedder was targeted a lot.
Kurt Cobain Critisized Pearl Jam And Eddie Vedder
The feud between late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder started when Cobain defined Pearl Jam as ‘Pioneering a corporate alternative and cock-rock fusion’ in one of his interviews. It can be said that for Cobain, music had to be free, independent, and rebellious, but Pearl Jam was producing radio-friendly songs. Then, Kurt regretted his words saying that he should have targeted the record company instead of Pearl Jam.
In addition to Cobain, many musicians criticized Pearl Jam for being ‘sellouts.’ According to the journalist Charles R. Cross, who wrote Kurt Cobain’s autography entitled ‘Heavier Than Heaven,’ the reason was the band’s rapid success and breaking grunge’s rules. Even though the problem between Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain turned out to be a misunderstanding, Courtney Love had a different approach to the situation.
Courtney Love Revealed The Reason Behind The Dispute
During one of her previous conversations, Kurt Cobain’s widow and Hole frontwoman Courtney Love highlighted the great rivalry between the grunge bands at the time, saying that every one of them was trying to be more successful and popular than the other. Also, she revealed the true reason behind the longtime dispute between Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain. Love stated that everything started when Cobain saw a Time magazine cover.
Courtney Love recalled when Cobain saw Time’s cover photo featuring Eddie Vedder and said the frontman was very angry about it. He probably thought he should have been on the cover, representing grunge and its values that inspired many young people who wanted to be musicians. Consequently, Love emphasized that Kurt Cobain was jealous of Eddie Vedder drawing greater attention than him, and it caused a feud between them.
In Love’s words, she said:
“There was rivalry in the Northwest as well, definitely there was a rivalry between the boys. Chris Cornell, Mark Arm, Eddie Vedder, and Kurt, there was a rivalry.
There was a rivalry to have your voice be heard, and be successful, but to have your voice be heard. I remember when Pearl Jam beat Nirvana onto the cover of Time, and that pissed Kurt off, let me tell you.”
You can check out the cover photo below.
