“Pissing me off so much”: the bands Kurt Cobain wanted to “completely throw away”
Kurt Cobain said he became uncomfortable with some of the hard rock he had once enjoyed because its lyrics often centred on sex and reflected casual sexism. His changing perspective helped push him towards punk, shaping the musical direction that later defined Nirvana.
In a 1992 interview, Cobain told Rolling Stone that Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin had appealing melodies, but their writing about sex had bothered him during his final school years. He recalled selling his records by those bands for $12 and turning to punk groups MDC and Black Flag; later, he came to appreciate some of his hard rock influences again.
In short
- Cobain criticised sexist themes in some hard rock lyrics.
- Punk led him to reject his earlier hard rock collection.
- He later returned to appreciate parts of those influences.
Explained simply
Kurt Cobain was the singer and guitarist in Nirvana, an American band that became central to the alternative rock scene of the early 1990s. Before forming Nirvana, he listened to a range of rock music, including hard rock bands such as Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin.
Punk offered a different musical style and often a more confrontational outlook. Groups such as MDC and Black Flag influenced the direction Cobain took with Nirvana, whose music helped bring alternative rock to a wider audience.