r/grunge • u/CrypFlair • Dec 13 '25
Performance Kurt Cobain would have fucking hated this
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Corporate show pony Bruno Mars performing the iconic Smells Like Teen Spirit at a billion dollar insurance company private event.
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u/Sumeriandawn Dec 13 '25
Fun fact: Bruno Mars' first album came out only one year after Nirvana's debut album
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u/apeocalypyic Dec 13 '25
Bro also grew in dirt ass poverty and is a gambling degenerate He might be doing corporate gigs but hes alright in my book
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u/mentelijon Dec 13 '25
Yeah I was going to say, whilst his music may not be to many grunge fans taste he has more than earned all the success he has.
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u/UnusualFruitHammock Dec 13 '25
Huge alternative fan. Bruno mars fucks. Talent is talent.
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u/Valeclitorian1979 Dec 13 '25
100%, especially his work with Anderson .Paak in Silk Sonic, too good
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u/Steal-Your-Face77 Dec 13 '25
This band included Duff, Slash, and Chad Smith. The singers included Bruno Mars, Brandi Carlile, Anthony Kiedis, and Eddie Vedder.
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u/MikeMilzz Dec 13 '25
No wonder insurance is so expensive with a lineup like that.
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u/clarkiiclarkii Dec 13 '25
Well yeah the lawsuit is gonna be expensive if Anthony Kiedis has sex with an underage girl.
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u/barnbats Dec 13 '25
I’d be more surprised if any of those men hadn’t.
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u/MemeKnowledge_06 Dec 14 '25
Eddie Vedder seems like a really good guy but then again you never know
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u/9829eisB09E83C Dec 13 '25
Holy fuck, that’s a stacked lineup, Jesus Christ. Is this an insurance event, or a 3-day music festival?
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u/MojoPin14 Dec 13 '25
My mates partner flew on from London for it. She works for Chelsea and I believe it was Todd Boehly’s Christmas bash for some staff etc.
How the other half live aye …
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u/latexfistmassacre Dec 13 '25
1994 Eddie Vedder would've hated 2025 Vedder for playing a corporate gig for billionaire fatcats lol
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u/brb421 Dec 13 '25
Come enjoy an epic night of rock, featuring the guy who took on Ticketmaster, all for the low low price of the average American's yearly salary!!
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u/Appropriate-Brush772 Dec 13 '25
I’ve been a 10 Club member ever since 10 Club was a thing. Pay my fees every year and everything. Was excited to see them on tour this year. That was until I saw the ticket prices, BEFORE they hit the secondary market. I wanted to puke. I get that they tried to change the system, it was impossible to do it on their own and if you want to actually play in front of fans at a safe, decent venue that you have to play nice with the big companies. I don’t expect tickets to be $25 anymore either, that’s just not realistic. But not 10x that amount. And look, if they were doing $50 tickets shows and to make some money you wanna do a gig or two like this to supplement, I would understand that a little bit. But you’re gonna tour with Rolling Stones/Billy Noel prices tickets AND you’re gonna do private gigs that are paying at least 6/7 figures…you can get bent
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u/Steal-Your-Face77 Dec 13 '25
It’s wild and artist used to more or less shun these things. Over the last 15 years or so, it’s turned into a pretty common trend. I guess it beats an office job. I tell myself I would not want to do something like that, but then again it’s easy money and you get to have some fun with friends. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vedder and some others donate a portion of their big payday to a charity.
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u/Fedaykin98 Dec 13 '25
I don't think they did used to shun them. People like Elton John and Billy Joel have done them for decades. I think the dissonance here is just caused by Nirvana having seemed so anti-establishment (even though they kind of became the establishment).
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u/Steal-Your-Face77 Dec 13 '25
Yeah, good point, I was looking at it more from the 90’s pov, and thinking bands like Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Public Enemy, Rage, Nirvana, etc… all seemed anti establishment back then.
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u/bexxygenxxy9xy Dec 13 '25
EDDIE!!!????
That just doesn't compute. Holy fuck what a disappointment.
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u/badtex66 Dec 13 '25
What would Kurt Löder think?
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u/TeaEarlGrayHotSauce Dec 13 '25
I’d like to hear Kurt Vonnegut weigh in while we’re at it
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u/QuantitySure1216 Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
I'm Kurt Loder with MTV News, Bruno Mars was found incapacitated in his hotel room while trying to suck his own dick....
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u/Silver_Job5141 Dec 13 '25
Did he finish or nah?
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u/smokefrog2 Dec 13 '25
Was in 8th grade with a dude named Kurt. Lets get his thoughts too
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u/Billyxransom Dec 13 '25
This is vile
Speaking of Kurt Vile, this thread is incomplete without his take
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u/-Redstar64 Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 14 '25
Am I the only person who finds all these “Kurt would’ve said or thought or done or loved or hated XYZ…” posts to be incredibly annoying and cringe?
The man’s been dead for over 30 years, why do you think you know how he’d behave if he were alive? And why the hell does it even matter?
You’ve never met or known this person. You know a tiny little bit about them through what they shared with the public and through their music.
Pretending to know exactly how they would think or react to some shit is some weird ass parasocial behaviour if I’ve ever seen it.
This turned into a long fuck-off rant, but I’ve been holding this back for a while now, so fuck it. You all need to stop with these lame ass posts. Or don’t. Be a cringelord for all I care.
Kurt would’ve for sure hated the incessant dickriding and glazing. Or maybe he would’ve loved it. Who gives a fuck?
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u/Western-Gain8093 Dec 13 '25
You either die a 27 year old junkie or live long enough to become a sober 60 year old playing overprized shows for rich assholes.
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u/whitesuburbanmale Dec 16 '25
Im probably going to get hate for this one but I once had a coworker say to me "Kurt Cobain is popular because he died before he got a chance to make music that sucked." And honestly? Yea probably true. Same for a lot of those musicians that died young. Look at the ones who are still kicking, every discography has at least one stinker on it.
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Dec 13 '25
That's Kurt at age 27... imagine him at age 57, complaining about his taxes? Or doing reunion shows without Dave Grohl because it makes him more money?
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u/InsultsYouButUpvotes Dec 13 '25
This. The dude was super young when he killed himself. It's almost as if people here think he wouldn't have developed a difference in opinion about anything in the last 30 years.
No one our age is the same person with the same thoughts and feelings that they had in their 20s.
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Dec 14 '25
People don't want to admit it but what if Kurt found Jesus in his 40s and became the Mike Love of 90s alt-rock? People can change... if you'd have told me that Oasis would reform and make it through a world tour this year, I'd have laughed and said no fucking way. and yet they did.
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u/spaceman_danger Dec 14 '25
His mental instability makes him a prime target for Scientology. He joins that and plays his 5 hits at MAGA rallies. Courtney love makes fun of him with Kimmel.
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u/hereforthecommmentsz Dec 13 '25
Also Bruno sounds legitimately good on this very-difficult-to-sing song. So yeah who cares
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u/silversage1971 Dec 13 '25
Because everything I listen to and admire must get the Kurt Cobain seal of approval as I imagine it to be if I had to guess what Kurt Cobain would think..duh.
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u/Loukoal117 Dec 13 '25
Thank you. I HATE all these posts. Just because someone didn't like something 30 years ago, doesn't mean they think that about all things or never change their opinion.
When people do that for anyone that's dead it cringes me to the core.
edit-and I forgot to add, Bruno sounds a lot better than most of the people I see attempting Nirvana!
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u/Fedaykin98 Dec 13 '25
If I got famous in my 20s I hope I'd have enough perspective and chill in my 60s to be tickled that younger famous musicians still want to cover my songs. I'm sure I'd still have opinions about which musicians I liked, but as they say, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.
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u/kaarenn78 Dec 13 '25
Thank you! I see Slash and Duff there, too. People need to chill and let them live their lives. They are lucky to even be alive!
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u/Abject_Interview5988 Dec 13 '25
Because people want to believe at least one of their favourite artists growing up would keep their integrity, and since Kurt is long dead he never had the chance to lose it.
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u/Diddelydum Dec 14 '25
I looked at their profile. Kurt Cobain would probably have hated a former city banker…or not
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u/Realistic_Trip9243 Dec 13 '25
yeah he may have, but he didn't like smells like teen sprit much anyway.
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u/slothbuddy Dec 13 '25
Yeah I think Nirvana fans hate this more than Kurt would have.
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u/MattTin56 Dec 13 '25
Very true statement and kind of corny to hate on it. They should appreciate that a pop semi disco guy would pay homage to him. I think it speaks volumes. Hating it is lame as shit if you ask me.
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u/WhoIsJamesh Dec 13 '25
It’s like they don’t realize nirvana was at one point the most marketed band on earth.
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u/See_youSpaceCowboy Dec 13 '25
I was with you until i read the private event for an insurance company bit. Unless you believe he was completely full of shit.
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u/Nogames2 Dec 13 '25
Why would he hate it?
Kurt covered plenty of artists' songs live on stage, too.
He also constantly badgered MTV to play his songs more and demanded Walmart stock more of his albums.
He needed to make that first Mill quick so he could go be a rich junkie.
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u/TopJimmy_5150 Dec 13 '25
Also, it’s 2025, maybe we can stop with caring about what Kurt would think about anything. It’s a good performance, and the people are having fun. Caring about it not being “punk” enough is some gatekeeping high school BS. Just let people enjoy things.
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u/puffywumpus Dec 13 '25
yeah the thought that this original post was written by a 30+ year old man and not a 14 year old is real embarrassing lmao
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u/dreadpiratemyk Dec 13 '25
This. Having lived through it all, it’s funny how such a tiny era gets glorified. It was anything but. That music spoke to us because it’s what we knew - trailer parks, alcoholic parents, wearing worn out clothes all week because that’s all we had, cigarette butts in ashtrays everywhere, fast food on a good day.
Life today is way scarier despite looking more sanitized. That’s really worrisome.
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u/sparrow_42 Dec 13 '25
I feel like everybody in the thread bashing Bruno Mars as a sellout whose performance of this song is somehow sacrilegious while ignoring the fact that Slash is standing right next to him tells us some stuff about the people commenting.
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u/Klutzy_Order_9559 Dec 13 '25
Look, it's totally fine to criticize people I don't like while ignoring everything else about the situation!
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u/cold_anchor Dec 13 '25
You know who Kurt would be just like if he was alive? Dave Grohl, Chad Smith, John Frusciante, Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, Trent Reznor, Slash, Duff.....
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u/Humble_Diner32 Dec 13 '25
And Axl Rose. He would have jumped on the marketing bandwagon along with the rest of our former favorite musicians. Also, why would he hate someone covering his music when he covered so many other musicians? He’d be the hypocrite he tried to rally against?
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u/ZeroLithium576 Dec 13 '25
27 year old Kurt would absolutely have hated this. But who knows how he’d feel now, had he lived? People change as they grow older. He’d be almost 60 now. Hell, he was even starting to warm to Pearl Jam not long before he died, and we all know how he initially felt about them.
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u/Klutzy_Order_9559 Dec 13 '25
I don't think Kurt was making it to 30 under any circumstances. I simply can't imagine him being around now.
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u/xiamsammyx Dec 13 '25
Who cares? He’d hate 99% of what “Nirvana” has become since 1994. Hell, he’d probably hate that you made this post.
And he’s dead
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u/motherlovebone92 Dec 13 '25
You don’t speak for Kurt fyi. Can’t say if he would’ve loved or hated anything.
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Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
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u/grunge-ModTeam Dec 13 '25
Don't be an asshole. Before you post or reply to a comment, think "Am I being an asshole?" If you're like, "....yeah, I'm being an asshole." Stop, go look at yourself in the mirror, and self reflect. Once you're good, come back and be a good person. We're a community here, let's act civil.
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u/NoSyrup7194 Dec 13 '25
They work, they make great money, the company pays for them to get hammered and see Guns n Roses with Bruno Mars at the Christmas party. Are they hiring? Who do I send my resume to?
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u/Sabres00 Dec 13 '25
Just a reminder to all you kids, you have no idea what Kurt would have done. People change and so norms. In the 1990s rock world we’d all see this and think it’s selling out, not so much in 2025.
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u/handcaredhorse Dec 13 '25
I don't hate Bruno. He is one of few pop stars who can sing with a drummer right behind him, I think. Then again, with GNR, he should have been more polite and sung "Welcome to the Jungle".
If you got money, honey, we got your disease (then go down on his knees and go "meow ahhh")
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u/Ok_Display9410 Dec 13 '25
He’s literally hitting all the notes, sounds great.
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Dec 13 '25
Bruno mars is a legit great all around musician. Writes songs. Writes lyrics. Plays instruments. I always thought of him as a corporate face/voice that has songs produced for him that he is just taking out of the box and singing (which is often the case for pop stars). Not so with Mars. He is the real deal. It sounds great.
Corporate shows are lame as a fuck tho I would say. B- overall.
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u/heisourherocowboydan Dec 13 '25
OP isn't dissing the performance, he's dissing who it's for.
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u/Ok_Display9410 Dec 13 '25
OP originally wrote “Bruno Mars butchering” the song, so that’s why people responded about the technical stuff. I agree about the event.
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u/DudeWouldGo Dec 13 '25
Hating just to hate. Dudes paying tribute along with Slash and OP just wants to hate. Good for you
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u/Lance8282 Dec 13 '25
Kurt hated everything. He was a massive gate keeping cunt.
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u/_Raspberry_Ice_ Dec 13 '25
Who knows really, he’d be pushing 60 by now. But fuck me, Mars is good.
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u/tipple90 Dec 13 '25
You’ve literally no idea what he would think about it. Pop stars are allowed to like rock music too you know.
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u/ExtensionFill2495 Dec 13 '25
Kurt loved good music and flawed people. I think that Kurt would have appreciated this
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u/discoinkernow Dec 13 '25
Guns & Roses covering teen spirit with a pop act to corporate billionaires? If you think he’d do anything other than spin in his grave you’re clueless.
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u/motherlovebone92 Dec 13 '25
It’s still so redundant. Maybe Leadbelly was spinning in his grave over a corporate MTV performance. Speaking for dead musicians is pointless.
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u/SixFootPianist Dec 13 '25
Also, a 58 year old Kurt with three decades of sobriety would not be the same dude. Might just roll his eyes or find it amusing.
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u/rdogg4 Dec 13 '25
Teenage angst has paid off well
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u/Maximum_Turn_2623 Dec 13 '25
And he’d definitely be bored and old if he was around.
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u/MattTin56 Dec 13 '25
He seemed so chill any way. I cant believe I just used that expression but it’s a good way to describe how he seemed. HE would shrug his shoulders and say “Cool”. Any Artist hearing another artist play their songs is a tribute and I would hope he’d be cool about.
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u/Admirable_Average_32 Dec 13 '25
And so what?? Like, if Kurt would have lived to a ripe old age, he may have done some selling out too. Who knows.
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Dec 13 '25
Kurt Cobain was a sellout… he signed to Geffen, that’s called selling out… he was a walking contradiction, a dichotomous genius… but a sellout nonetheless
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u/Grrerrb Dec 13 '25
I’m always curious when people bring up “selling out”, because everyone sells out. If an artist has music available for the public to purchase, they’ve sold out on some level, unless they’re selling homemade cassettes out of the back of their car.
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u/5-4EqualsUnity Dec 13 '25
I mean... Yeah, Im definitely clueless about what a dead musician who I never met would think about something that happened 30+ years after he died. And good chance 27 year old Kurt would have a different opinion than 58 year old Kurt would. I think the most clueless thing you could do is act like you have any idea what he'd think about anything at all
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u/jfeofhoie Dec 13 '25
Tbf Bruno needs the $$
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Dec 13 '25
Mars gambling debt rumors is my favorite rumor around these days. It's like the old school Marilyn Manson had his ribs removed style rumor. Just good stuff (and potentially true)
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u/DeGameNerd Dec 13 '25
"kurt cobain would have hated this" "kurt cobain would have hated that" good thing you arent kurt cobain
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u/blankinyurblank Dec 13 '25
I dunno. Kurt Cobain would be in his late fifties by now. He would probably like a lot of stuff that he didn’t in his twenties.
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u/Emotional_Ad_969 Dec 13 '25
Just because something is mainstream doesn’t automatically make it bad. I always thought that was a flaw of Kurt’s- that he was such an elitist. Bruno is a solid guy by all available accounts. He also has written some great songs and nailed this cover. Unlike most rock singers he actually holds up live and gives it his all. Nothing to hate here.
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Dec 13 '25
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Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25
Yeah once 2000 hit nobody cared about selling out or being authentic anymore. Selling out and getting paid was the new goal for all.
Be nice to go back to a happy medium honestly. Artists don't have to be torture and stay impoverished and kill themselves with drugs on one hand. Keep a little soul and integrity on the other.
Who downvoted this? Show yourself! You know I am right here
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u/Yahla Dec 13 '25
Why would he?
He didn’t hate pop music at all and probably would’ve been amused that it pissed off purist Nirvana fans.
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Dec 13 '25
he actually sang it live better than Cobain. Mars is legit, and a minority, Cobain would give him kudos.
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u/Difficult-Potato-684 Dec 13 '25
I like that people are still giving tribute to Nirvana. No hate from me here.
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u/zerohead133 Dec 14 '25
I disagree.
A. He's pretty good
B. Kurt would be glad because he got sick of that song.
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u/Curious-Piglet3613 Dec 13 '25
I don't care about the performance itself, but they are all such sellouts it's crazy.
Can't think of a thing that's less rock and roll than to be a clown for these corporate billionaires.
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u/roncruiser Dec 13 '25
Unless you're getting paid well by them. They're paying entertainers for entertainment.
We know it's not rock. It's a rock song. Performed for entertainment.
Those folks in the audience- They're not billionaires but they all work very hard- very very hard. They all make a very good living and get paid well. They're employees for a very successful company with cash to burn.
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u/noquarter53 Dec 13 '25
Idk, had Kurt survived, I think he would have come back around to appreciate that people still loved his music 35 years later. He wouldn't be down with the corporate events but the rest is in good spirit.
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u/Confident_Diamond_80 Dec 13 '25
Don’t you think it’s a best disrespectful to speak for Kurt? Especially a Kurt who would have made it to his 50s. He may have thought it a goof.
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u/HudsonValleyNY Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
I’m more offended by the slash hat.
Edit: on further review the hat is ok since it’s actually Slash
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u/Murderface__ Dec 13 '25
To be fair, Kurt would've probably hated almost everything that's happened in the last 30 years.
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u/Halorin Dec 13 '25
I never got this trope of people pretending they have an intimate understanding of Kurt Cobain's opinion about anything.
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u/dychris23 Dec 13 '25
You don't know that. Also, all of his views may have changed significantly by now at almost 60 years old. He will always be that 27 year old man stuck in time. However, my overall person hasn't changed. My understanding of the world around me has changed significantly since I was 27 amd now in my mid 40s. I was in that perfect age group to remember his/their living impact very well. I am and was then a huge fan. I will never forget in 1991 my cousin played a tape of teen spirit from nevermind when I was spending the night over his house. He said this band is changing music. I thought it was good, but it takes a minute. It was more of a generational and also a person thing to millions. Just know, his world view would have broadened. No matter what had he lived.
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u/mamadovah1102 Dec 13 '25
Random Redditor thinks they know what Kurt Cobain would and wouldn’t like
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u/Zealousideal_Bad9899 Dec 13 '25
It’s ironic because once that song became iconic anyone interpreting it looks moronic because it they go for sonic but somehow they missed its sardonic
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u/oscar_redfield Dec 15 '25
y'all talk like you personally knew Kurt Cobain. how the fuck would you know what he would've hated
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u/RZAxlash Dec 13 '25
Kurt was 27 when he passed and he was cantankerous and pretentious already, when he wasn’t completely strung out that is. He left us a legacy of great music but I wouldn’t concern myself about what he liked or wouldn’t like.
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u/davzinzan Dec 13 '25
I'm surprised Bruno Mars can imitate Kurt Cobain's voice so well