Puddle of Mudd’s Wes Scantlin Admits Nirvana Cover “Sounded Like Total Shit”

Roughly three years ago, Puddle of Mudd frontman Wes Scantlin performed a cover of Nirvana’s “About a Girl” that got all sorts of attention for all the wrong reasons. In a new interview, the rock singer freely admits that the performance “looked and sounded like shit.”

During a visit to SiriusXM in early 2020, Scantlin was joined by his Puddle of Mudd bandmates for an acoustic rendition of the Nirvana classic. While the rest of the band sounded fine, Scantlin was painfully off-key. Surely enough, the video went viral, with Scantlin initially responding, “Rise above others who try and take you down… Jealousy is toxic, and toxic people are a waste of time. We walk away with nothing but a SMILE.”

Now, in a new conversation with SongFacts, Scantlin offered a bit of an excuse, but also didn’t hesitate to criticize the performance. “I was acclimating and it was a tiring day, and I had already performed five or six songs at one time,” explained Scantlin. “And by the time I got to that one — which I shouldn’t even have done because I cannot nail that song — I was a little tired. It looked and sounded like total shit. But live to fight another day, dude.”

It is true that it’s hard for anyone to nail Kurt Cobain’s vocals on “About a Girl.” It’s not an easy song to sing, as Scantlin found out — albeit too late. But it’s one thing to miss a note or two, and another thing to completely butcher a song.

That all said, Scantlin appears to be in a better place these days after being somewhat of a fixture on TMZ for a number of transgressions over the years. As for how he got his life back on track, he told SongFacts, “In my opinion, it’s get rid of the lurkers. Switch gears, change your playground and your playmates, hit some meetings, and run from evil freaking crazy-ass bitches.”

That said, he has had some questionable episodes since that infamous “About a Girl” performance, including a bizarre interview in which he freestyle rapped, another one in which he blamed groupies for his poor singing, and an onstage meltdown during a show in Wisconsin a year ago.

Still, Scantlin and Puddle of Mudd are forging ahead with a follow-up to their 2019 album Welcome to Galvania, with the singer revealing, “The album is basically done. It’s getting mixed and mastered, and sprinkling the Disney magical fairy awesome stuff on top of it is John Kurzweg, who did [hit Puddle of Mudd albums] Come Clean and Life On Display. He’s making it happen, man. It’s incredible. It’s wonderful to listen to. I pat myself on the back and give credit and love to each and every person that collaborated with me on this next record.”

Until that new Puddle of Mudd album comes out, relive Wes Scantlin’s aforementioned performance of “About a Girl” in the video below. Just make sure there’s not a pack of wild dogs nearby.