Confession: I didn’t know very much about Dave Grohl until yesterday. Admission: That’s my bad, because the more I learn about him, the better I like him.
Let me tell you what I found out, and then, in the true spirit of TIMH and its tech-victim generalissimo John Cooper’s Lucky Pig, the floor is open for you all to keep teaching.
Oh, I knew Grohl was Nirvana’s drummer (1900 – 1994), and then front man/guitarist/founder of Foo Fighters, and ubiquitous celebrity persona seen on Letterman’s last show, the Grammy’s, the HOF inductions (his with Nirvana in 2014; inducting Queen in 2001), The Muppets and a couple of hilarious music videos (Learn to Fly; Walk) spoofing popular movies (Airplane/Airport ’77; and Falling Down).
I kind of remembered him falling off a stage and breaking a leg (2015) – but not that he returned to the stage just weeks later in a Game of Thrones inspired mobile rig he designed for himself (top picture). I remember seeing him in a cool documentary about the history of LA’s Sound City Studio (where Nevermind was recorded) – but was unaware that he directed the film, and went on to produce, direct and appear in a SHO series of similar documentaries about historic recording studios across the US, “Sonic Highways”, turning out an album of the same name made up of one song recorded in each place with musicians specially connected to the place.
I also learned that Dave Grohl aka Dr. G was born in Warren, OH (where you can find Dave Grohl Alley) on this date in 1969. His slacker/formative years were spent in the Virginia suburbs of DC, where he developed a love of punk rock and self-taught guitar playing and drumming – he still cannot read sheet music. He started playing professionally at age 15, and dropped out of high school in the 11th grade. When his band Scream broke up, Grohl called an old friend who told him Nirvana was looking for a drummer and gave him numbers for Cobain and Novoselic. Grohl auditioned and joined the band as it was shopping itself to major labels prior to recording Nevermind for David Geffen’s label. Boom!
When Nirvana disbanded, Grohl looked around for a new gig, playing with Tom Petty (who offered him the job) and Pearl Jam (who might have, but he dithered). Meanwhile, Grohl booked a studio and re-recorded a bunch of songs he had written during the Nirvana years and recorded on cassette tape. Playing every instrument on every track save one guitar track, this became the first Foo Fighters album, and Grohl set about recruiting the band. In addition to his work with FF, Dave is also involved in Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, and has collaborated with Brian May, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, Lemmy, Paul McCartney, Slash, Tony Iommi, NIN, Bowie and many others.
On November 23, 2002, Grohl achieved a historical milestone by replacing himself on the top of the Billboard Modern Rock chart, when "You Know You're Right" by Nirvana was replaced by "All My Life" by Foo Fighters. When "All My Life" ended its run, after a one-week respite, "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age took the number one spot. Between October 26, 2002 and March 1, 2003 Grohl was in the number one spot on the Modern Rock charts for 17 of 18 successive weeks, as a member of three different groups.
Here we are, 22 years of FF, 4 Best Rock Album Grammy’s, and countless tours and collaborations later. It’s also been that long since Grohl used drugs of any kind, never having used cocaine or heroin. Kind of a record in and of itself. Grohl is worth an estimated $225 million (“I’m basically filthy rich.”), trailing only Ringo and Phil Collins on the richest rock drummer list.
Now for the best thing I learned about Dave Grohl. That happy-go-lucky, smiling personality is the real deal. He’s collected friends everywhere he’s gone. Known as The Nicest Guy in Rock, he told Rolling Stone how he came by the moniker:
"There was an Ozzfest in England in 1998, and Korn canceled. So we got the call. It was Slayer, Pantera and Black Sabbath. We had to go on after Pantera. I was so terrified: 'There's gonna be a riot. I'm gonna get drawn and quartered. No one's going to like our band.'
"But we played, and I looked to the side. The guys from Pantera are watching us and singing the lyrics to our songs. Afterwards we made friends with Pantera. I was nervous and scared; I didn't think I fit in. But they were so open to us. That backstage hospitality we try to have – it all came from Pantera. [Guitarist] Dimebag Darrell was the nicest fucking guy in the world. He could walk in and do a shot of Crown Royal with Justin Bieber, with Rick Nielsen, with James Brown – he was everybody's best friend. And you could feel that energy when he was playing.
"After that day, I was like, 'From now on, everybody's allowed in this room. I don't care if it's Britney Spears.' I became the backstage best friend. Whenever I showed up at a festival, the first thing I'd do is grab a bottle of whiskey and go knocking on doors to see who the funniest people are. You'd be surprised who the real fucking nutcases are."
No wonder then, that Grohl’s most recent public appearance was giving a eulogy at Lemmy’s memorial service. Happy Birthday to Dave Grohl, my new bud!
And one perhaps NSFW banger with Lemmy
