When the Gospel of Luke came up with that whole “Peace on Earth/Good will toward men” saying in the Bible’s annunciation to the shepherds, he didn’t give much forethought to how it might play out in this year’s holiday season. Because for some musicians, they simply ain’t havin’ any of it. To quote Reverse John Lennon: “Happy Christmas (War is On).”
It all started last Wednesday when Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne continued his well-documented disdain for the Arcade Fire, talking to Rolling Stone about the year in music. Coyne said: “I don’t really listen to the Arcade Fire on purpose. It’s just not my trip. I’m not really looking for that kind of, ‘We’re gonna survive’ kind of music. But I think people were kind of into that.” Coyne also told a great story where he said Bob Dylan’s pompous eccentricities rivaled that of Michael Jackson’s.
Keeping the holiday jeer going, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx tweeted, “RIP @SullyErna ….Oops I’m sorry, I meant your career.” The dig was likely in reference to the Godsmack frontman’s foray into the direct-to-video market with the feature film Army of the Damned, which comes out January 14.
RIP @SullyErna ….Oops I'm sorry, I meant your career.
— Nikki Sixx (@NikkiSixx) December 19, 2013
The bad blood between the two goes back a number of years to when Lawrence, MA’s most favorite son since Joe Perry complained in an interview that his band was treated meanly by Mötley’s security during the package-tour Crüe Fest in 2009. Sixx responded by saying that Erna was “Crying like a bitch,” which inspired Era to pen the ‘Smack’s instant taunting classic for metalheads everywhere, “Cryin’ Like A Bitch.”
Erna has been silent on the latest salvo from Sixx, but according to his recent tweets, he’s been busy fighting off a battle of the sniffles, which seems to be going around quite a bit this month (cough!). Not wishing to exchange any germs, it’s likely these two aren’t going to be under the mistletoe this holiday season anyway.
Day 5. Thank u mr flu bug 4 making me cough until my eyeballs hurt, keepin me up & makin my body ache all day.
Merry Xmas u little f#?ker!
— Sully Erna (@SullyErna) December 21, 2013
Kicking it back to an even more irrelevant late-’90s act, ex-KoRn drummer David Silveria lashed out at his former bandmate, Fieldy, when a fan posted on social media about how the bassist said in his 2009 autobiography that he challenged Silveria to a fight. Now, we’re just as surprised as you are that the bass player from Korn has a book out, and just as loopy is that the drummer is still pissed about what it said after four years.
“Fieldy has acted like a tough guy for so long it’s nice to tell the truth,” barked Silveria to his Facebook page. “Not only is he NOT a tough guy but he’s a cowardly little bitch. He never tried to fight me cuz he knows I would squash him like a bug.” He had much more to say, including lamenting, “The original KoRn sound is gone,” but the post has since mysteriously disappeared. Metal Injection was kind enough to save the diatribe.
Wonder what Korn’s Brian “Head” Welch thinks of all this. He most definitely knows what the true meaning of Christmas is, having split the nu-metal outfit in 2005 to go get baptized in the Mediterranean’s Jordan River and walk the land preaching the word of the Lord. Then again, he rejoined Korn earlier this year, and while there’s probably a lot to say in the negative about that, we here at Vanyaland wish nothing but a holly jolly Christmas to all, and to all a good night.