Gavin Rossdale of Bush Shaped His Life Around Jim Morrison

Bush rocker Gavin Rossdale sat down for an interview with 107.7 The Bone, where he shared how Jim Morrison from The Doors significantly influenced his musical career.

Rossdale was asked about his memorable performance during the 1996 MTV Spring Break Rocks when it was raining heavily. Despite the risk of electrocution, he continued singing and playing the guitar. He explained his mindset during that moment:

“Life often presents options, two doors. Life is always a question of how hungry are you, how much you really want it whatever it is, how much you want it. I was just in a Celestial moment and I could die, but wow, I was like, this is commitment. How committed I used to be prior to that when I was failing and living in my apartment with like five people having a great time staying up every night. I’d write songs all day [I’d sleep in an] apartment with people everywhere.”

He then delved into his fascination with Jim Morrison, describing how he modeled his career and life around the legendary singer.

“I was obsessed for a bit with Jim Morrison from The Doors and went to Père Lachaise in Paris, where he was tombstone is where he’s buried. I visit, I read his poetry, his lyrics. He was nuts, so we used to run everything by the committee of people, my best friends who I still have to this day. We’d say, ‘Well, what would Jim do?’ That was the rule we ran by. So in that moment what just in my DNA was what would Jim do.”

In the interview, Rossdale also recounted his thoughts during the stormy performance. Despite the heavy rain, he believed his guitar and equipment wouldn’t be functioning properly. Yet, it turned into what fans regard as one of Bush’s most iconic performances:

“So I just sang on and it was weird because when I was playing it felt like it was a toy guitar because it just was drenched. I was thinking that first of what I get electric I was thinking, ‘This can’t even be actually corresponding to notes because it just feels like fishing wire.’ But it did, and that was it. So I went through the correct door. I’ve been through loads of the wrong doors but that was a good one.”

The rest of the band chose not to play due to the rain, but Rossdale continued with the entire song. He reportedly added:

“If the fans are getting rained on, we will too.”

You can see the interview down below.