It’s a treat when legends collide, but it’s especially exciting when those legends represent the music of their generation. For Boomers, Sir Paul McCartney is arguably the biggest icon. For Gen X, Nirvana’s grungy sound fills that role. So when McCartney realized he had stumbled into being a temporary frontman for Nirvana, many fans were elated.
An Instagram Reel making the rounds on @RockMusic’s page shows McCartney in a crisp white shirt at the center microphone. His voice, raspier than usual, matches Dave Grohl’s thrashing drums, Krist Novoselic’s pounding bass, and Pat Smear’s punky backing guitar. A chyron reads, “Paul became the frontman for Nirvana for one night and absolutely killed it.”
In the middle of a Nirvana reunion
The OP explains in the comment section, “In 2012, Paul McCartney joined surviving Nirvana members Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Pat Smear for a collaboration nobody saw coming. McCartney later joked that he hadn’t initially realized he was essentially stepping into the middle of a Nirvana reunion. Together, they performed the newly written ‘Cut Me Some Slack’ at the 12-12-12 benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. Rather than trying to recreate Nirvana’s past, the rock legends created something completely new — loud, raw and heavy. For one unforgettable night, a Beatle basically became Nirvana’s frontman, resulting in one of rock’s most unexpected collaborations of the 2010s.”
But in McCartney/Nirvana style, they didn’t just collab. They won a Grammy for “Best Rock Song” and gained a lot of new crossover fans.
It started as a jam session
How it happened was quite serendipitous. Writer Nick Wells shares some of the delightful details in an article for Guitar World. “Speaking from the stage before introducing Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and Krist Novoselic, McCartney said: ‘So recently, some guys asked me to go and jam with them. So I showed up ready to jam, and these guys kept saying they hadn’t played together for years. The penny finally dropped, and I finally understood that I was in the middle of a Nirvana reunion.’”
Writer Stuart Bell shares more details in the 22nd issue of his blog, “For Whom the Bell Tells,” on McCartney’s website. He writes, “On the morning of the 12th the UK’s Sun newspaper ran a front-page story hinting at an incredible collaboration. The music world went into overdrive. Paul McCartney with the surviving members of Nirvana, it claimed. This was massive! Could it be right? Absolutely it could. Little did the world know this was not exactly a new thing either – the band had met earlier this year for a jam and ended up recording an original song.”
Bell adds that Paul shared how it all came about. “‘Dave asked me to come along for a jam with some mates. Dave suggested maybe doing something like ‘Long Tall Sally’ but I thought maybe we should just make something up.’ Along with Dave, Paul found himself jamming with Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear. ‘They were saying how good it felt to be back together. I said, Whoa? You guys haven’t played together for all that time? Someone whispered to me, ‘That’s Nirvana’, I couldn’t believe it.”
‘Cut Me Some Slack’
Bell continues, “The group recorded the track ‘Cut Me Some Slack’ which got its first outing at the 12/12/12 show – making headlines across the planet and getting music fans very excited in the process. Paul’s 12/12/12 performance brought the incredible show to an end. He played a career-spanning set list, which opened with the rocker ‘Helter Skelter’, aptly setting the tone for the evening.”
In the comments section of the aforementioned Instagram reel, many fans of both bands (or just music in general) shared their thoughts. Many believed Nirvana’s beloved late frontman, Kurt Cobain, would have loved it. One writes, “I know Kurt was a John fan, but man, imagine how happy he would have been sharing the stage with Paul!”
Another joked that it wasn’t so much that McCartney became the frontman. “I would say in this situation Nirvana became the backing band of Paul but tomato tomato haha.”
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