'Epic' by Faith No More with Roddy Bottum

'Epic' by Faith No More with Roddy Bottum

From Queer The Music: Jake Shears On The Songs That Changed Lives by Mercury Studios

November 18, 2025 · 53 min · Season 3 · Episode 10

About this episode

Jake Shears interviews Roddy Bottum about Faith No More's hit 'Epic' and his experiences as an openly gay musician in the rock scene.

It's our season finale and we're delighted to be joined by Roddy Bottum, best known as the keyboardist of Faith No More.  Back in 1990 Roddy found himself in the spotlight in the rock world as its first openly gay star. In this special episode Jake and Roddy celebrate Faith No More's breakthrough hit 'Epic' and they discuss what it was like to be the only out queer in rock, on tour with Guns N' Roses and Metallica, his important friendship with Courtney Love and Curt Kobain and his brilliant memoir 'The Royal We'. Thank you for listening to Series 3 of Queer The Music! Keep an eye out for some special bonus episodes dropping next month... We'd love to hear from you - let us know who you would like us to feature on Queer The Music ⁠@queerthemusicpodcast⁠ via Instagram. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Jake Shears

Guest: Roddy Bottum

Topics covered

  • music
  • LGBTQ representation
  • rock history
  • friendship
  • memoir

Keywords

  • Faith No More
  • Roddy Bottum
  • Jake Shears
  • LGBTQ
  • rock music
  • Epic
  • Guns N' Roses
  • Metallica
  • memoir

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Faith No More, Guns N' Roses, Metallica

Books & works: The Royal We, 'Epic'

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