Nikki Sixx on Eddie Vedder Beef – ‘Take a Swipe at My Band, I’ll Take a Swipe at Your Band’
Back in February, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx engaged in a back-and-forth beef after Vedder called out Motley Crue as one of the bands he despised coming up in the music scene.
"I used to work in San Diego loading gear at a club. 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 Motley Crue: [expletive] you," stated Vedder in a New York Times interview before going on to add, "I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous. Guns N’ Roses came out and, thank god, at least had some teeth."
Sixx clapped back on social media, responding, "Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in Pearl Jam hated Motley Crue. Now considering that they’re one of the most boring bands in history it’s kind of a compliment isn’t it?"
Vedder went on to take a few more shots at Motley Crue, before Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard diffused things a bit by revealing that other members of the band actually enjoyed Motley Crue's style of rock.
In a recent interview with Regis Tadeu and Paulo Baron viewed below, Sixx explained his reasoning for wading into Vedder's comments with a response. He explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), "I'm not trying to be the guy that wrote [the Crue song] 'Bastard,' 'cause I'm not the guy that wrote 'Bastard'. I wrote that song about somebody that ripped us off. I am the guy that if you fuck with me, I will fuck with you back. And that's what that song is about. You take a swipe at my band; I'll take a swipe at your band. You try to hurt my family, which is my band; I will try to hurt you. That's not something to be proud about. [Laughs]"
Sixx then went on to reveal that he was an early fan of the grunge and heavier alternative rock that would go on to overtake many of the bands that were popular as the latest '80s came to an end.
"I remember going to MTV with [a copy of] 'Nevermind' before it had come out, Nirvana. Me and Tommy [Lee] were on there. We were, like, 'Hey, you guys gotta check out this band. You gotta check out this band.' And they were bands that were coming. I remember having a cassette — I think it was demos; it might not have been; it might have been early recordings — for Rage Against the Machine, and I remember telling everybody about that," recalled Sixx, then adding, "We've never been afraid to embrace music changing because that's the whole idea behind music."
But circling back to the beef, he added, "My only thing is, you wanna take a crack at my band, I'm probably gonna say something back. But what I don't understand is why's the guy even talking about my band? He's a successful guy."
"Listen, let's face it: the guy flies around in private jets; he lives in a mansion in a gated community; he sells out stadiums; and then he dresses at the thrift store and tries to pretend some guy in the '90s," continued Sixx. "Don't take a swipe at my band, dude. I mean, I'm at least being honest."
Sixx and Motley Crue are expected to return to touring this year, hitting stadiums as part of their pandemic-delayed tour with Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett. Vedder, meanwhile, has been touring in support of his Earthling solo album and is expected to join Pearl Jam in playing their pandemic-delayed touring later this year.