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Eddie Vedder and Nikki Sixx Are Feuding Like It’s 1991

Vedder vs. Sixx. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by Getty Images

To your corners, hair spray and flannel. Eddie Vedder and Nikki Sixx have been engaged in a war of words for well over a week now, with the two front men eager to play some sort of rock one-upmanship about who has the better band. It all started on January 30, when Vedder, in a New York Times interview, grumbled about how he kick-started his heart and grew to despise Mötley Crüe during his years as a music-venue worker in the ’80s. “The metal bands that — I’m trying to be nice — I despised. ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ and Mötley Crüe: Fuck you. I hated it,” he explained. “I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous.” Days later, Sixx got wind of Vedder’s comments and took it upon himself to discuss the even flow at which he despises Pearl Jam. “Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in Pearl Jam hated Mötley Crüe,” he tweeted on February 5. “Now considering that they’re one of the most boring bands in history it’s kind of a compliment isn’t it?” Sixx added that Vedder’s vocals sound like “marbles in your mouth.” Pearl Jam, cheekily, went on to tweet a video about how much they love their “bored fans” in response.

But we’re not done. Because Vedder is alive and a better man with discourse, he again took a swipe at Mötley Crüe during his solo Earthlings show on February 7, where he chided the band for favoring garish pyrotechnics over technical virtuosity. Rolling Stone reports that Vedder took a moment during the show to recognize the excellence of Chad Smith (famously of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), who serves as the Earthlings’ drummer. “That drum kit, that silver, beautiful machine that he is the engine of, does not need to elevate or rotate to do its job,” Vedder told the audience. “Let me just point that out!” Same can’t be said for Tommy Lee, even though, we have to admit, drumming while upside down and spinning on a roller coaster is pretty cool.

Eddie Vedder and Nikki Sixx Are Feuding Like It’s 1991