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Dave Grohl Asked PJ Harvey to Cover Nirvana with Sound City Players

One of Kurt Cobain's favorites wasn't available for London gig

Dave Grohl performs with Sound City Players in Austin, texas.
Gary Miller/FilmMagic
March 21, 2013 10:20 AM ET

PJ Harvey singing a Nirvana track with the Sound City Players would have been a memorable moment, but the singer wasn't available to join the supergroup at a London gig. Sound City leader and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl had asked Harvey to participate, he said in a recent interview with NME.

"Someone came up with the idea of doing a Nirvana song with PJ Harvey," Grohl said. "Kurt loved her and we love her and we thought, 'Yeah, what would we do?' I said: 'God, what if we were to do 'Milk It' from In Utero with Polly singing?' We all looked at each other like, 'Woah, that would be amazing . . .' and then she couldn't do it!"

Dave Grohl Talks 'Sound City,' Nirvana on 'Colbert'

Grohl said he's wary of performing Nirvana songs in concert: "The thing is, it's sacred ground," he said. "If we were ever to do something like that it would have to be right because you want to pay tribute. There's a reason Foo Fighters don't do Nirvana songs, and it's a good reason."

The Sound City Players, borne out of Grohl's recent documentary about the famed Van Nuys recording studio Sound City, played a handful of gigs, including shows at the Sundance Film Festival, in New York, Los Angeles and London. Grohl said the band's three hour and 20 minute set with Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, Rick Springfield and Rick Nielsen last week at SXSW in Austin would be the group's last.

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