Nikki Sixx Calls Pearl Jam ‘Boring’ After Eddie Vedder Takes Swipe at Motley Crue + Hair Metal
The battle between grunge and hair metal was loosely resurrected after Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder told the New York Times how much he "despised" the glam bands of the mid-to-late '80s. Nikki Sixx, bassist for Motley Crue (the band Vedder named directly) responded on Twitter with a dig at Vedder and his "boring" band.
"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," recollected Vedder when asked if traces of "art-culture explosion" from the Generation X-led grunge movement were still present today.
Speaking more about the hair metal scene, the singer, who will release his new solo album Earthling on Feb. 12, continued, "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."
"But I’m circling back to say that one thing that I appreciated was that in Seattle and the alternative crowd, the girls could wear their combat boots and sweaters, and their hair looked like Cat Power’s and not Heather Locklear’s – nothing against her," Vedder said of the grunge and alternative scene occupied by Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Jane's Addiction and so many more.
"They weren’t selling themselves short. They could have an opinion and be respected. I think that’s a change that lasted," he went on. "It sounds so trite, but before then it was bustiers. The only person who wore a bustier in the '90s that I could appreciate was [Jane's Addiction singer] Perry Farrell."
These words evidently made their way to Sixx, who clapped back at the Pearl Jam frontman on Twitter.
Disregarding Vedder's comments about the differences in the attitude toward woman in the two scenes, Sixx, who late last year admitted Crue were "most probably" a sexist band "in today's environment," replied, "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?"
In response to Sixx's comment, Pearl Jam tweeted a slight dig at the Crue bassist:
Both Motley Crue and Pearl Jam have been wildly successful throughout their respective careers and each band has notched five platinum studio albums apiece in the United States. Pearl Jam, however, have the edge with the lone diamond-certified album of the bunch, which is their 1991 debut album, Ten.