Paul McCartney and Nirvana crossover dubbed ‘amazing’ by listeners who say Beatles member could ‘rock it’

An unlikely crossover between veteran musician Paul McCartney and grunge band Nirvana has been dubbed “amazing” by fans.

The collaboration came as a result of Dave Grohl’s documentary, Sound City: Real to Reel. He, along with Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, reunited to create a song for the Foo Fighters frontman’s documentary. But without Kurt Cobain, who died in 1994, the group were in need of a vocalist. Rather surprisingly, Wings frontman McCartney stepped up to perform the song with the group, which then went on to play it live twice. The Grammy-winning song, Cut Me Some Slack, was the result of their efforts in the studio, with McCartney himself describing the song as a “Nirvana reunion.”

Novoselic would go on to dub their McCartney collaboration “Sirvana,” a play on words of Sir Paul McCartney and Nirvana. While the song may have surprised listeners, the performance at a benefit gig and a further showcase on Saturday Night Live has thrilled fans, who are praising the song still, over a decade on from its release.

A post of the performance to the r/Nirvana subreddit had fans praising the McCartney and Nirvana overlap. One fan wrote: “Watching Paul just create this song out of thin air on that very guitar in Sonic Highways is amazing. And Dave apologising and saying he can do better. Just awesome.”

Another wrote: “This was such a fucking great song and performance. I can’t even imagine what Dave, Krist and Pat must’ve been feeling seeing another lefty guitar player who wasn’t Kurt jamming with them, let alone a Beatle.”

A third added: “McCartney could really rock it when he wanted to. I mean this song and Helter Skelter is proof positive.” Fellow listeners even dubbed the song Helter Skelter 2, and were left wanting more from Sirvana.

One user wrote: “I also wish this group would have toured, made and album, and just called it something other than Nirvana. I have a ton of respect for them for not doing it though.”

Another added: “Well apparently they joked around with the name ‘Sirvana’ at one point, would’ve been great indeed.” A third suggested Cut Me Some Slack came at a career low point for McCartney, whose contemporary materials at the time, while popular, were less than great.

The user wrote: “In his defence, that was kind of a hokey time in Paul’s career where he was a decade removed from his last really good album. I think McCartney got a bit of a second wind with that Flaming Pie record and some of the shit he’s put out since then is fucking fantastic.”

A third suggested Cut Me Some Slack is proof McCartney can still rock it when he wants to. They wrote: “I remember when I stumbled upon this a few years ago. This song is awesome! It’s nuts how McCartney can still rock – and rock that hard!”