Music

Read about how Nirvana's old guitarist became a decorated soldier

by Tyler Munro

photo via the New York Times

Jason Everman is a name you might not know, even if you’ve likely at one point or another been a fan of his associates. In the late 80s, he was essentially Nirvana’s punching bag, paying the $606 fee to record Bleach, an album he didn’t actually play on. And while he was on the album’s cover, Kurt Cobain bragged about never paying him back. Class act, that guy was.

Everman went onto join Soundgarden briefly as a replacement bassist before fizzling out of the music industry. But it’s what happened next that made for an interesting feature in the New York Times.

In 1993, Everman enlisted in the military, leaving without notice to enter the fast track to the special forces. He’d come from a military family and, at 26, it seems his time had come. Years later, he made it.

He remembers watching the second plane hit the World Trade Center in 2001 and knowing it meant war.

“I don’t believe in fate or destiny, but I did feel a strange sense of kismet, which was probably more of just the right place at the right time,” he said. “I guess I knew it was on, and I hoped that I would be prepared when it was time to go.”

He was ready, even if the things he saw weren’t for the faint of heart.

“Iraqi tanks were exploding all around, turrets shooting off into the desert. I saw stuff I never thought I’d see,” he said. ” Buildings blew up in front of me, dude.”

“I saw photos of Everman in fatigues on a warship (“an antipiracy operation in Asia”). A shot of Everman with Donald Rumsfeld. Another with Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal,” writes Clay Tarver, who penned the piece. “And that’s when it hit me. Jason Everman had finally become a rock star.”

Everman left the military in 2006 and has recently received a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. As for what’s next, Everman says he’ll probably just “be a bartender somewhere.”

Imagine the stories? Read the whole piece at the New York Times. Even if you aren’t and never have been a fan of the bands he was barely in, it’s a captivating read.