During an interview on The Howard Stern Show with the rest of Foo Fighters, Pat Smear and Dave Grohl mentioned that they still play together privately as Nirvana sometimes with the other surviving Nirvana member, Krist Novoselic. After Smear brought it up, Grohl added, “We actually recorded some stuff.”

It came up when Stern asked Smear if he ever misses playing with Nirvana, to which Smear replied, “You know, every once in a while, me and Krist and Dave get together and we do play as if we’re Nirvana. So I don’t have to miss it — we do it. If we’re in the same town together, or you know, whatever, we’ll get together and jam.” Smear had joined the band in 1993 as a second guitarist and toured in support of In Utero during Nirvana’s last year together.

This news comes out following Grohl’s comment from January that he “wouldn’t feel comfortable singing a song that Kurt sang.” Smear stated that the last time they played together was at the house that Foo Fighters recorded their latest album Medicine at Midnight at, which just came out on February 5. Foo Fighters were also recently announced to be 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees, only seven years after Nirvana made it in. During Nirvana’s induction ceremony, Grohl, Smear and Novoselic had performed as Nirvana with Joan Jett, Kim Gordon, St. Vincent and Lorde joining them on vocals for a song each.

The remaining members last performed as Nirvana at the Heaven is Rock and Roll show in January 2020, with St. Vincent and Beck joining them on vocals. However, the surviving members still say it’s painful to be reminded of the loss of Kurt Cobain. In this Howard Stern interview, Smear and Grohl stated that they don’t revisit Nirvana’s albums because it brings back the memories, as Smear said, “It just makes me sad” and Grohl said, “It’s hard sometimes.”

Grohl went on to tell Stern that he doesn’t talk about Nirvana with his family and that his daughter had asked him about Cobain for the first time the night before the interview, February 9. He says that “Come As You Are” came on the radio and he was surprised to hear his daughter sing every word. Grohl continues, “She wanted to know if Kurt was shy, I think. ‘Yeah, he kinda was.’”

Photo credit: Boston Lynn Schulz