Hip-hop legend Dr. Dre hasn’t been shy in naming rock artists as some of his influences — something viewers were reminded of when Dre identified the late Nirvana bandleader Kurt Cobain among his “musical heroes” in a July 13 interview with Kevin Hart on the comedian’s Hart to Heart talk show.
In the past, Dr. Dre has even named Nirvana as his favorite rock group of all time.
It’s an aspect The Pit dug up in a report about the Dr. Dre interview with Hart. After all, in one scene of Dre’s 2017 four-part TV documentary, The Defiant Ones, the hip-hop artist and Beats by Dre mogul listens to Nirvana’s “Stay Away” while extolling the virtues of the genre-defining grunge band.
“Yo, I’m starting to sweat right now just listening to this shit — it’s bananas,” Dre says of the classic grunge act. “Nirvana, Kurt Cobain — that’s my favorite rock group of all time.”
In The Defiant Ones, Dr. Dre goes one step further and calls Nirvana’s 1989 debut album Bleach one of his favorite records.
“That’s one of my favorite albums ever made,” Dre says. “I still listen to that shit to work out.”
The cross-genre fandom is especially astonishing now given that Bleach arrived via Sub Pop Records in June 1989 with very little fanfare — even for rock fans. In fact, it failed to crack the Billboard 200 at the time.
Still, back then, a definite buzz was building in Seattle about Nirvana and their sound. And as rock fans now know, the Kurt Cobain-led band would go on to completely change the face of rock with their 1991 follow-up, Nevermind.

Black Sabbath & Ozzy’s Final Performance Heads to the Big Screen in 2026
Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s legendary final hometown performance—an emotional, thunderous farewell that felt like a seismic exorcism of rock’s demons and saints—will soon find

Sublime Release Catchy Summer Single ‘Ensenada’
Sublime has returned with a brand new single titled “Ensenada” — their first fully original release with new frontman Jakob Nowell. Jakob, as most music

Nine Inch Nails Release New Song ‘As Alive As You Need Me To Be’
Nine Inch Nails have released a new song “As Alive As You Need Me To Be”. The song is the first single from their upcoming

Dave Navarro Suing Perry Farrell Following Jane’s Addiction Onstage Fight
If you were hoping for Jane’s Addiction to kiss and make up, we’ve got bad news – Dave Navarro is suing his former bandmate Perry

Filter Release Crushing New Single ‘All The Good’
Platinum-certified industrial rock innovators Filter are back with a new sonic barrage. The band will release The Algorithm: Ultra Edition — a remixed, remastered, and

Goldfinger Recruits Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker from Blink-182 for ‘Freaking Out a Bit’
John Feldmann isn’t exactly the kind of guy who slows down, even when everything’s spinning. On “Freaking Out a Bit,” the new single from Goldfinger