Watch Bush Bring “Glycerine” Back To The Tonight Show 28 Years Later
In 1996, the promising young British grunge band Bush appeared on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show to perform their big power ballad “Glycerine.” Since then, we’ve let a lot of days go by. But last night, the significantly less young Bush returned to The Tonight Show and performed “Glycerine” once again.
Some things have changed since 1996, and some have not. Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale looks a little older than he did in 1996, but he definitely doesn’t look 28 years older. The main remains devastatingly, aggravatingly handsome. He’s also the only person who was in Bush in 1996 and who’s still in Bush today. But since Rossdale is the only Bush member that ever got any real attention, that doesn’t really feel like a change.
Gavin Rossdale was the only Bush member who appeared on camera last night. It was just Rossdale, with a string section behind him. Rossdale had exactly the same setup when he played The Tonight Show in 1996. Back then, though, he had more candles behind him. Bush released the greatest-hits album Loaded last year, and they’ve got an American tour coming up. That’s why Rossdale was on The Tonight Show. Today, “Glycerine” essentially serves as a classic rock song, and it’s a bit trippy to see this one guy play this one song the same way, decades apart, in two very different contexts. Below, watch the 2024 and 1996 Tonight Show performances of “Glycerine.”
Last night, the Tonight Show also filmed fellow ’90s alt-rockers Green Day playing a surprise acoustic set in the Rockefeller Plaza subway station. It’ll presumably air later, but plenty of people have already posted camera-phone footage of Green Day in the subway.
Check out our We’ve Got A File On You interview with Gavin Rossdale here.
