Dennis Rodman Tells GQ How Pearl Jam Saved His Life In New Interview [Watch]

Some may know Dennis Rodman as an NBA Hall of Famer who dominated the boards and helped the “Motor City Bad Boys”, Detroit Pistons win world championships in 1989 and 1990, followed by the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in 1996, ’97, and ’98.

Other younger fans and critics alike may know him as the wildly eccentric nonconformist who has spent time hanging around one of the world’s most ruthless dictators, North Korea’s Kim Jung Un. What few know about him, however, is that Dennis Rodman is a massive fan of Pearl Jam. In a new video interview with GQ, Rodman explained to the men’s magazine the important role the iconic rock band played in his life.

The video, titled “10 Things Dennis Rodman Can’t Live Without”, saw The Worm talking about his Montecristo cigars, t-shirts, exercise bands, and more. Immediately following his raving review of those Montecristo cigars, Rodman heaped praise upon Pearl Jam and the band’s hit song “Black”, from 1991’s Ten.

“This song here, ‘Black’, who don’t know that song by … this band Pearl Jam? Who don’t like this band on the planet Earth? Maybe the devil, I don’t know,” Rodman said in the video with a grin across his face.

The Menace went on to explain how he fell in love with band following the release of Ten and how the album helped him during the roughest of times.

“I got hooked on these guys in 1991 … I had a bit of an issue in 1993, you know, I wanted to commit that thing called… suicide. It’s amazing to look back at this, like ‘wow’,” he continued with pictures of Pearl Jam and the lyrics to “Black” in hand. “You hear these lyrics right here, it’s so true … It’s more than chill bops, it’s more like, ‘damn’, it’s heavenly felt … You just float on cloud 55, or 91, or 110.”

“They saved my life man. I tried to commit suicide and for some reason, the voice of love came in my life at that particular moment that night and it was Pearl Jam, and I thank Pearl Jam for doing that for me,” his seemingly endless praise continued.

As the interview went on, Rodman gave a shoutout to a few more musical figures, including Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and a portmanteau of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

“Who would imagine a guy coming from the projects in 1981, ’82, would have piercings in the NBA. I think I’m the first guy to ever have piercings in the NBA. They was telling me back then I was dressing like Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Page … because if you looked at the styles and my style back then, we looked the same. We had the bell-bottoms, the hip-huggers, the tight shirts.”

Watch Dennis Rodman talk with GQ about Pearl Jam, his attempted suicide, his favorite cigars, and more via the video player below and head here to read the full story.

10 Things Dennis Rodman Can’t Live Without