UPDATE (8/2): Pearl Jam and Mötley Crüe’s extremely 1991 feud got a little bit more ridiculous as video of Eddie Vedder taking a not-so-subtle jab at Tommy Lee’s drum theatrics at a recent show began to circulate online. The comments came during Vedder’s solo show with his backing band the Earthlings in New Jersey this past Sunday, Feb. 7, a couple days after Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx called Pearl Jam “one of the most boring bands in history” (this was after Vedder dissed the hair metal giants in a New York Times interview). While on stage, Vedder introduced a solo from Earthlings/Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith by quipping to the audience, “That drum kit, that silver, beautiful machine that he is the engine of, does not need to elevate or rotate to do its job — let me just point that out!”
In their heyday, Mötley Crüe’s stadium shows were packed with all sorts of theatrics and pyrotechnics, though arguably none were more famous and outrageous than Lee’s flying, rotating drum kit.
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Nikki Sixx has fired back at Pearl Jam after Eddie Vedder called Mötley Crüe “vacuous” and said he “despised” the band during a recent interview.
Nikki Sixx has fired back at Pearl Jam after Eddie Vedder called Mötley Crüe “vacuous” and said he “despised” the band during a recent interview.
Vedder kicked off the increasingly rare ‘grunge vs. hair metal’ war of words when, speaking to the New York Times recently, he compared the Seattle scene to the his tenure loading gear at a San Diego venue during the peak of glam metal.
“I’d end up being at shows that I wouldn’t have chosen to go to — bands that monopolized late-’80s MTV. The metal bands that — I’m trying to be nice — I despised. ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ and Mötley Crüe: Fuck you. I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous.”
Vedder also credited Guns N’ Roses with bringing “some teeth” to the pre-grunge rock era, made a subtle swipe at actress Heather Locklear (Crüe drummer Tommy Lee’s ex-wife) and quipped that “the only person who wore a bustier in the ’90s that I could appreciate was Perry Farrell.”
The Pearl Jam singer’s disses finally reached Nikki Sixx Friday, with the Mötley Crüe bassist tweeting in response, “Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in Pearl Jam hated @MotleyCrue. Now considering that they’re one of the most boring bands in history it’s kind of a compliment isn’t it?”
Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in Pearl Jam hated @MotleyCrue. Now considering that they’re one of the most boring bands in history it’s kind of a compliment isn’t it?#TheStadiumTour #RocknRoll
— 📷 (@NikkiSixx) February 5, 2022
In response to fans’ tweets, Sixx compared Vedder’s vocal styling as singing with “marbles in your mouth,” and wrote to a Pearl Jam fan who tweeted in defense of Vedder, “Remember there were zillions of brown haired bands for brown haired fans…..Go find them. You will know them by the bored look on their face.”
Thankfully, Vedder and Sixx are unlikely to cross paths in the coming months, with Vedder currently on the road for his just-launched solo trek and Mötley Crüe and Poison finally embarked on their Covid-postponed stadium tour this summer.
From Rolling Stone US
