Nirvana Bassist Clears Up Infamous VMA Botched Bass Toss

Posted on Nov 21st 2008 10:00AM by John D. Luerssen
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Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic is clearing the air on what exactly happened at the 1992 MTV VMAs, where Novoselic's bass came crashing down on his head during the band's performance of 'Lithium.' (Hint: Axl Rose may be blamed in part.)

Rattled by the band's well-publicized conflict with members of Guns N' Roses, Novoselic writes on his Seattle Weekly blog that he didn't take the stage in a good frame of mind. "Nirvana gets introduced," he writes. "I'm plugged into some awful bass rig that's distorting terribly. I can barely hear what I'm playing, and the tone deteriorates into an inaudible mess. F--- it -- time for the bass-toss schtick. Up it goes!!!! I stumbled offstage toward the green room with my hands on my forehead. I walked straight into the bathroom and looked at a bloody forehead in the mirror. I washed my face off and put a paper towel to my head. Paramedics came in and put a little bandage on, then handed me a long medical release form to sign."

But another rock icon was there to aid in the healing process.

"Standing behind them was Brian May, the guitarist of Queen, with a glass of chilled champagne," Krist concludes. "I signed the release just to get the medics away from me so I could take a sip of Mr. May's wonderful medicine. Ahh, yes!!! Moments later Dave Grohl burst in. He'd been looking all over for me, only to find me enjoying a calm glass of bubbly with Mr. May."