Stephan Jenkins Praises Machine Gun Kelly After He Samples Third Eye Blind

Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins is singing his praises for Machine Gun Kelly.

“He’s such a genuine, open-hearted person,” Jenkins, 60, exclusively shared with Us Weekly as Instacart and Third Eye Blind prepare to host a New York City concert on September 4. “You meet him, and it’s like you’re really getting the real thing. He’s sincere, and there’s just this genuine feeling that rolls with him.”

Jenkins had the opportunity to meet up with MGK (real name is Colson Baker) as he worked on his new album, Lost Americana. 

In his latest track called “Starman,” MGK, 35, samples Third Eye Blind’s iconic ‘90s hit, “Semi-Charmed Life.”

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“I think so many people — most of us and myself included — I’ve got my shield up, and you’re kind of meeting my representative most of the time,” Jenkins told Us. “And it’s disarming when you meet MGK, because he named himself after a machine gun welding felon, and he’s just like this really warm presence. But it’s not fake. It’s not some smarmy anodyne kind of nonsense. There’s something genuine about him.”

Jenkins is a fan of “Starman” and, yes, he’s impressed with the musician he met away from the stage.

Stephan Jenkins Courtesy of Stephan Jenkins/Instagram

“When you meet him, you just see these reasons why so many fans are drawn to him,” he explained, “or where they’re like, ‘I want what you have. I want that feeling that you have.’”

More than 28 years after Third Eye Blind released their debut studio album, Jenkins and the band are still feeling plenty of joy as they perform their biggest hits for fans around the world.

On September 4, the group will perform a special show at Terminal 5 in New York City with the help of Instacart.

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“When I first heard ‘Semi-Charmed Life’ as the soundtrack to Instacart’s summer spot, I knew an IRL concert could be the perfect way to bring the campaign to life,” Jenkins explained to Us. “When I proposed it, I loved how Instacart jumped at the chance to make it happen. Now we get to bring that energy to a full set for fans as we celebrate the end of summer together.”

Every night when Jenkins grabs the mic, he is thrilled to see old and new fans alike singing the group’s biggest hits like “Jumper,” “Never Let You Go” and “Deep Inside of You.”

“I love seeing songs that I wrote a minute ago be reenlivened in the faces of the audience, and I see that in young kids who come to shows,” he said. “They keep our music alive. It’s not resurrecting anything. … [Our audience] is actually bigger now than it was when we started.”