“He says, ‘Here you are, my good man’ and he hands me this glass of champagne.” How a wayward flying bass led to Nirvana meeting Queen legend Brian May for the very first time

Nirvana, 1992 MTV Awards — (Image credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

The 1992 MTV Awards, held at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on September 9 that year, were memorable for a number of reasons.

At the height of grunge's popularity, Van Halen were the night's big winners, picking up the Best Video award for Right Now, which also scooped the Best Direction In A Video award, and the Best Editing in a video award. The night also saw Axl Rose and Elton John duet on a special version of Guns N'Roses anthem November Rain, and a 'handbags' backstage bust-up between Rose's band and Nirvana. Oh, and Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis upset his granny by praising Satan from the stage.

Nirvana picked up the Best Alternative Video 'moonman' trophy on the night, for Smells Like Teen Spirit, though for bassist Krist Novoselic, the night was arguably more memorable for the fact that he met Queen's Brian May for the first time, an unexpected consequence of knocking himself out onstage with his own bass guitar during Nirvana's live performance.

“Oh, that was mega!” Novoselic recalled to Bass Player magazine editor Joel McIver 30 years on. “We started playing this song [Lithium] and my amp just didn’t work. So I thought, I’m gonna do this bass toss and walk off. Well, the bass got caught in the TV lights, and then - boom! - it fell on my head.

“So I storm off stage, and these paramedics come and take a look at me and put a bandage on and I had to sign all these release forms so I’m not gonna sue anybody. So I’m all annoyed, right, and I’m like, What the hell!’ And behind them there is this amazing fellow, with a glass of champagne. It’s Brian May! Just standing there politely. He says, ‘Here you are, my good man’ and he hands me this glass of champagne.

"I was like, You’re Brian May! How are you?’ and he said, ‘More importantly, how are you?’ Moments later Dave Grohl burst in. He'd been looking all over for me, only to find me enjoying a calm glass of bubbly with Mr May.”

Although Nirvana never got to share a stage with Queen's legendary guitarist, May has appeared onstage numerous times with Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters, much to the delight of Nirvana/Foo Fighters guitarist Pat Smear, a Queen super-fan since his teens, who freely admits that he used to try to stalk the English band on their visits to Los Angeles in the 1970s.

Watch Nirvana's performance at the 1992 MTV Awards below.

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A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.