Rapper Post Malone successfully delivered his Nirvana Tribute in support of coronavirus efforts, showing off his rock music capabilities, earlier today, April 24.
The tribute concert, initially live-streamed hours ago, was shot in Malone's home in Utah and featured Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker, with Brian Lee on bass, and Nick Mack on guitars. Malone's quartet was in different corners of the house, in light of social distancing, and the 77-minute tribute regularly cycles through each musician as they rock through the classic grunge and alt-rock setlist.
Lee and Malone sported dresses with floral designs, which is a nod to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's genderbending fashion choice and feminist statement.
Malone wastes no time rolling out Nirvana classics, "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle," "Drain You," and "Come As You Are" to start the in-home concert. Post Malone, while known mainly for his hip-hop and trap sounds such as "White Iverson" and "Rockstar," displays his raw vocal prowess in performing the songs as Cobain once did.
In between his first trio of Nirvana hits, Malone said that he hopes "everybody's stayin' nice and safe and hanging out at home playing Call of Duty or something." He said that they want "to kind of f**k around and have a good time" and to remind people that there will always be people who want to help. He then extended his gratitude to "everybody donating and everybody watching," saying that this means a lot to them.
Malone also apologized for his home, the concert venue, being "dirty." He joked that while he had all the time in the world to clean, he had to raise his kill-death ratio, most likely referring to the first-person shooter Call of Duty. The artists in the tribute concert smoked and drank in between performances, to which Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselić approved of in a tweet which read "Beer - it's fuel."
Post Malone and the band performed more Nirvana tracks - "School," "Something in the Way," "About a Girl," "Stay Away," "Lithium," "Breed," "On a Plain," "Very Ape," and "Territorial Pissings." The Utah quartet also performed the 1993 "In Utero" classic, "Heart-Shaped Box," with Malone using an acoustic guitar and Lee on violin.
Novoselić followed the concert, tweeting his support as well as his memories of his band. He recounted having the 1989 single "School" being written in a North Tacoma basement. The Nirvana bassist also posted a picture of the iconic trio of himself with Cobain and drummer Dave Grohl, saying he's proud of Post Malone and crew.
In her Instagram account, Courtney Love posted a screenshot of Malone's Nirvana tribute showing the fundraising progress. The Hole frontwoman said, "GOOSEBUMPS!" and cheered Malone to have a margarita.
As of this writing, the Post Malone X Nirvana Tribute has already musted $2.6 million out of its $7.5 million targets. The proceeds will go to COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO, with Google pledging to match "$2 for every $1" up to $5 million. At the end of his concert, Malone expressed gratitude to everyone who made it possible and reminded everyone that they could rewatch the concert and keep on helping.
