Kurt Cobain Couldn't Stand Pearl Jam. Here's Why

Publish date: 2024-05-08

Unfortunately, Kurt Cobain isn't here to comment on any ill will he may have felt toward other musicians, but Cobain's widow, rock queen Courtney Love, has talked openly about the rumored jealousy between Cobain and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder.

In an interview with National Geographic (via NME), Love claimed that "there was a rivalry" among the so-called grandfathers of grunge — Cobain, Vedder, Chris Cornell (Soundgarden and Audioslave), and Mark Arm (Green River and Mudhoney). "There was a rivalry to have your voice be heard, and be successful..." said Love — the former frontwoman for the rock band Hole. If you believe her assessment, the aforementioned grunge gurus also wanted to be seen. "I remember when Pearl Jam beat Nirvana onto the cover of Time, and that pissed Kurt off, let me tell you," she said. 

That infamous Time magazine cover touted a headline that read, "All The Rage." A close-up photo of Vedder graced the page, along with this editorial description: "Angry young rockers like Pearl Jam give voice to the passions and fears of a generation." It was rumored that the magazine agreed to interview both Cobain and Vedder for the feature without exclusively featuring either one on the cover, so when the end result starred Vedder only, Cobain was supposedly not pleased.

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