Beyond just their music, Nirvana’s politics and sardonic humor made them brilliant. They would make numerous cultural jokes, but they also gained notoriety for being unafraid to call out the shortcomings of other musical idols. They were forceful in their critical assessments and personified the punk aesthetic of Generation X, combining anger and sarcasm.
Eddie Van Halen secured one of their most brutal takedowns, even though Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, and even The Charlatans were vulnerable to their righteous blade. Interestingly, the legendary Dutch metal band personified everything they detested. His extravagant and ostentatious approach, which packed arenas across the globe, represented everything that their generation was targeting while they were boiling beneath the surface, plotting their uprising.
Van Halen was a fan of Nirvana even though he disagreed with the band. He drunkenly declared his love for them backstage at their show at the Forum in Inglewood, California on December 30, 1993. However, he did so in the most abhorrent of ways. Pat Smear, the band’s second guitarist, allegedly accused him of racism.
Smear was made fun of for his ethnicity by the washed-up Van Halen. Smear was born and raised in West Los Angeles. His mother was of African-American and Native American-descent, while his father was an immigrant from Germany. He did this out of desperation to perform with the trendiest band of the day and make that he and his generation were not ghosts of the past anymore. This was a hideous example of 1980s metal, complete with warts, hanging on for dear life.
Years later, when Smear spoke to Dimension Seven, she recounted the story. He began by saying that he had a difficult time being creative in the 1980s because of the popularity of players like Van Halen. Their blistering technicality made him think he was a bad player and that he should give up. He did observe, though, that the legendary metal player “did more harm than good” to aspiring musicians during that decade.
He then relived that incredible evening at the Forum, which was remembered for more than just being a huge hit on stage, by sharing his Van Halen story.
Smear had to pinch himself at the time because it was the location of legendary performances by Queen’s Brian May. “Anyway, Eddie Van Halen comes backstage stone-cold drunk and starts pleading with Kurt to let him play with us,” the man stated. It was repulsive. “I’m all washed up; you are what’s happening now,” he exclaimed. It was awful! He was an awful, bigoted pig!
When the rumor surfaced that the “Jump” actor had smeared a Mennen Speed Stick deodorant all over his face, Smear insisted it was true. “Yeah,” he recalled, laughing. Kurt had this deodorant and must have sniffed it because it ended up all over his face. It appeared to be As if there were cracks under his nose.
When things went south at that point, Van Halen revealed his darker side, and Smear was the victim. Then, another long-standing rumor surfaced. The frontman of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, was asked if it was true that Van Halen begged to play Smear’s guitar, saying, “C’mon, let me play the Mexican’s guitar,” when he was denied the opportunity to perform his well-known masturbatory piece, “Eruption,” with the band.
Smear disclosed that he suggested that Van Halen perform with Nirvana to bassist Krist Novoselic. He was, however, hilariously denied because they would never be able to remove him from the stage. This highlighted yet another stark contrast between the two eras and the flaming radiation of Van Halen’s ego. Smear was talking to Novoselic when he went over to Van Halen, but the older musician was unaware of who it was until he came up behind him. At the time, he was blatantly racist.
Krist says, ‘Oh Eddie, you haven’t met Pat,'” he continued. He’s our new guitar player.’ Eddie looks back and sees me, but he says nothing, not even a hello. Just, “Oh no, not a dark one,” is all he says. I initially thought he was joking. Still, he persisted in asking, “What are you?” Are you something like a Raji? Are you from Mexico? Afterward, he persisted in telling Kurt, “Come on, let me play the Mexican’s guitar.” I was horrified!”
Despite the abhorrent mistreatment he endured at the hands of one of the world’s most renowned musicians, Smear interpreted the whole affair democratically.
Was Van Halen the Metal Mussolini? He declined to answer the question. Instead, he used the story to illustrate why you shouldn’t be in a rush to meet your heroes because, more often than not, it doesn’t work out well. “To me, Eddie Van Halen is the epitome of why you shouldn’t want to meet your heroes because you’ll be disappointed,” he chuckled. I’ve heard he’s clean now. I completely attribute that incident to the alcohol. I’ve also committed a lot of terrible things while intoxicated.
Surprisingly enough, Smear’s first response was shock because he assumed Van Halen detested him. That demonstrates to you both the negative effects of racial oppression as well as the fact that stars formerly held excessive power. Thank goodness, Nirvana started to lower that bar. Later on in the evening, Cobain would masterfully parody Van Halen’s style of playing with the solo from “In Bloom.” They eliminated another red cross from their long list of targets.
