GAVIN ROSSDALE On BUSH's Early Success: 'We Were Annoying Because We Appeared Out Of Nowhere And Got A Lot Of Attention'

In a new interview with Ross Golan of the And The Writer Is… podcast, BUSH frontman Gavin Rossdale was asked about the relationship between his band and other groups from the 1990s, particularly as he and his BUSH bandmates were often viewed with suspicion by the media for cashing in on the grunge wave. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I think we were a bit annoying because we sort of appeared out of nowhere and got a lot of attention. So people were, to some extent, wary of us. When I did [SMASHING PUMPKINS frontman] Billy's [Corgan] podcast [recently], he apologized to me for that exact thing, and he traced my history, through the sort of 4AD [British] record label, THROWING MUSES, and then falling in love with the PIXIES. And on the podcast, he made up his mind. He's, like, 'That's it. I knew it. You're one of us.' I mean, I'm good friends with him now, so it's fine."

Gavin continued: "I think we were probably a lot to take because of the terrible tragedy of [NIRVANA frontman] Kurt [Cobain] shooting himself and that void, and then having that void being quite a precious place, it's like nobody wanted to build on the sort of the gaping wound in the scene. But then they've gotta play something on the radio, and they've gotta show something on MTV. They can't just sort of have a shutdown. And I think that was probably a lot for the traditional, whether it's that sort of whole PEARL JAM, SOUNDGARDEN, PUMPKINS, ALICE IN CHAINS. I mean, since then, I'm really friendly with Billy. It's reversed. I was respectfully friendly with Chris [Cornell] from SOUNDGARDEN. And it all turned around, but I think at first it just was like we did take a lot of attention and a lot of airspace and airtime and shows, and so we were probably a lot to swallow."

Back in 2020, Rossdale told NME about the criticism BUSH received in the 1990s: "We really broke a lot of rules and pissed a lot of people off. Steve Albini [legendary producer of NIRVANA's 'In Utero'] wrote an incredible piece about us for the reissue of 'Razorblade Suitcase' [BUSH's second album from 1996]. He said that one of the most annoying things about us to most people was the lack of anointing. I was looking for a champion. Every time I met a journalist, I'd be, like, 'Are you the one?' They'd always be, like, 'Nah, mate. We're gonna have a really great time, then I'm gonna drop a bomb on your house.'

He continued: "Reviews only started to get really good once we stopped selling records. As soon as we weren't selling millions, the reviews got better because they didn't see it as so annoying that we were devilishly successful. It brought an equality to things. Such is life."

A year earlier, Rossdale told Consequence about the initial criticism leveled at BUSH: "I think that it was pretty unfair, but so many great things have happened that it feels disingenuous to complain about a couple of writers in 1994 and their perspective. It's just their perspective. You have to be a fully grown adult if you're gonna put your head on the chopping block. You have to be able to take a few shots to survive. I took a lot of shots.

"I was on tour with David Bowie, and I don't like name dropping, but he's a good one," Gavin added. "I'll suspend that for him. And I got another shitty review somewhere, and I was, like, 'Fuck this guy, fuck him.' And I said [to Bowie], 'How do you cope with it?' and he said, 'Outlive your critic.'"

BUSH's tenth studio album, "I Beat Loneliness" came out in July 2025 via earMUSIC. The LP was produced by Rossdale and Erik Ron (PANIC! AT THE DISCO, SET IT OFF, BAD OMEN).

2024 marked the 30th anniversary of the release of BUSH's six-times-platinum debut album, "Sixteen Stone".

BUSH released "Loaded: The Greatest Hits 1994-2023" in November 2023 via Round Hill Records. The set included a new song called "Nowhere To Go But Everywhere", which was written by Gavin and produced by Rossdale and Corey Britz.

BUSH's current lineup consists of Rossdale, Chris Traynor (guitar),Corey Britz (bass) and Nik Hughes (drums).

BUSH broke up in 2002 but reformed in 2010, and has since released six albums: "The Sea of Memories" (2011),"Man On The Run" (2014),"Black And White Rainbows" (2017),"The Kingdom" (2020),"The Art Of Survival" (2022) and "I Beat Loneliness" (2025).

"Black And White Rainbows" was crafted after Rossdale went through a divorce with pop star/reality TV judge Gwen Stefani in 2015.

Photo credit: Chapman Baehler (courtesy of Cosa Nostra PR and earMUSIC)