The 12 Most Incredible Backstage Moments at 12-12-12
If you watched the Hurricane Sandy relief concert 12-12-12 last night, you witnessed insanely epic musical moments that will go down in rock history. Paul McCartney fronted a Nirvana reunion, something no one would EVER have predicted. Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder traded vocals on the Floyd classic "Comfortably Numb." Adam Sandler rewrote Leonard Cohen, for god's sake! It was a crazy night.
When you get this many legends together under one arena-sized roof, awesome things tend to go down backstage. Celebrities you can't imagine sharing the same universe suddenly start talking. Kisses are stolen. Michael Jackson songs are rewritten on the fly.
So from all our time spent backstage at Madison Square Garden during 12-12-12—from rehearsals to chatting with artists as they walked on and off stage—here are the 12 best things we heard during 12-12-12.
1. Dave Grohl Explains How McCartney Came to Front a Nirvana Reunion
"We [Krist Novoselic, Pat Smear and I] called Paul up and asked him if he wanted to collaborate and he said, 'Yeah,'" Grohl told Fuse. "We just started jamming, and we ended up jamming for half an hour. Paul was playing an instrument called a cigtar [cigar box guitar]. After that, we listened to it and then we started to chop it down. And then he said, 'Let's do one take' and it was a great take. That's how you're supposed to do it."
2. Nirvana Bassist Krist Novoselic Barges In on Chris Rock's Interview
When the impossibly tall Krist Novoselic (wearing neon green pants and a purple Paisley shirt, no less) started talking to Chris Rock during his interview with Access Hollywood, no one seemed to believe it was actually happening. But what could have been excruciatingly awkward turned out to be one of the most awesome things I've ever witnessed.
Novoselic tried to introduce himself, but Rock cut him off: "C'mon man, I know you—I was on SNL when you did your first thing [with Nirvana]. And you were nice to me. You probably don't remember, but you guys were really nice to me. Everybody wasn't nice, but you guys were nice. So there you go. I was there, your first time on television." Btw, we've got video footage of this beautiful/bizarre interaction, which you should watch right here and now:
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