Rockstar Says His Band’s Quick Success ‘Pissed a Lot of People Off’ originally appeared on Parade.
Gavin Rossdale reflected on his career with Bush and shared that the British rock band’s quick success “pissed a lot of people off.”
“There was complete freedom, and that was reflected more in the music I was making,” Gavin, 59, recently told Classic Rock Magazine, while reflecting on his previous bands Midnight and The Little Dukes. “I felt like the bands I’d been in before, they’d made music to tailor it to what people might like. For the first time I was in a band – and this is a fun one for you – I felt like I’d avoided being commercial.”
Gavin created Bush in 1992 alongside Nigel Pushford, with the original moniker Future Primitive. Gavin was the band’s lead vocalist and played the guitar, Nigel was the lead guitarist, Dave Parsons on bass and Robin Goodridge rocked the drums.
During their early years, Gavin gave up on trying to be a part of a successful band and purely enjoyed the vibes. However, opportunities came flying in their direction when the pressure of “making it” wasn’t applied.
“I thought: ‘F–k it, at least you’ll be in a cool band that no one has heard of, rather than being in an uncool band that no one has heard of, rather than being in an uncool band that no one has heard of.”
Photo by: Margaret Norton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images
After being together as a band for one year, they signed with Trauma Records and released their debut album, Sixteen Stone, in November 1994.
“We got so successful so quickly that we pissed a lot of people off,” Gavin told the outlet. “I felt like we were shunned by a lot of people. The stench of success was horrible for a lot of people.”
Bush ended their days as a band in 2003 before their reunion seven years later. Now, the group looks a little different behind leading man Gavin as Christ Traynor rips as the guitarist, Corey Britz as the bassist and Nik Hughes on drums.
Rockstar Says His Band’s Quick Success ‘Pissed a Lot of People Off’ first appeared on Parade on Jul 24, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.