In a new interview with iRockRadio, Nirvana manager Danny Goldberg discussed Dave Grohl saying he did not “touch people as deeply” as Cobain did.
Danny explained (via Alternative Nation):
“You know, there are big stars; Dave Grohl himself is obviously a big rock star and has had a lot of hits.
“But I don’t think Dave – as talented as he is and he certainly has made a lot more money than Kurt made in his lifetime – touches people as deeply. I suspect Dave would acknowledge that too.
“I think that in terms of icons, Kurt was kind of the last icon of the rock era and then the hip-hop era started.
“Then, obviously, in our kids’ generation, hip-hop has been a dominant voice for adolescence. It’s not the only one, there were still rock artists but not only was he iconic in terms of the depth in which he touched people, that music was pop. Those songs were as big as Rihanna, Travis Scott or Justin Bieber or anything today.
“They were pop hits as well as touching the underground culture. That fusion of pop and underground, I don’t think rock has produced someone else who could do that since Kurt. I think he’s arguably the last of that era.
“You could almost have bookends of an era that started with The Beatles and ended with Kurt. I mean, yeah, there was rock and roll before The Beatles but The Beatles broadened it and I think you can make that argument.”