On his extraordinary rock ‘n’ roll journey, Dave Grohl, the frontman of Foo Fighters and former drummer for Nirvana, has sadly faced a great deal of hardships. Following the suicide of frontman Kurt Cobain of Nirvana in April 1994, he was left to heal, reorganise, and eventually found Foo Fighters. When longtime Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins passed away from an overdose in 2022, Grohl tragically fell into the depths of grief once more.
First and foremost, Grohl was greatly influenced by the legendary drummers of classic rock. They were Ginger Baker of Cream and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. One of the major musicians who encouraged him to take up the sticks at an early age, according to him, was Ringo Starr of The Beatles.
Dave Grohl wrote in his book Dave’s True Stories that he learned to drum by following along with Beatles records and thinking back to Prince’s 2007 Super Bowl rendition of Foo Fighters’ “Best of You”. He wrote, “I realised that this was my proudest musical achievement, without a doubt.” “It all paid off in this moment. All those years of practicing alone in my bedroom to Beatles records, sleeping in chilly, bug-infested squats on winter fan tours across Europe. And literally bleeding my hands off playing the drums.”
Dave Grohl is more than just a drummer, as we all know. After Cobain passed away in 1994, he split up with Nirvana bassist Krist Nosovelic and joined Foo Fighters as the frontman with the guitar. But this noble change did not happen overnight. Grohl had to rediscover his love for music in addition to becoming more familiar with the craft of songwriting.
“I couldn’t even listen to music for a while after Kurt died“. Grohl once shared this difficult time with the NME. “I detested turning on the radio because I was always afraid to hear a Nirvana song or anything depressing. Anything gloomy just made me feel so bad. Ace Of Base is the kind of crap I used to listen to. I became engrossed in that! I was listening to some absolutely absurd garbage.
Grohl went on to mention a few specific albums that helped him get back into the music business. He recalled something in particular from a record he owned”. A National Healthcare by a band called The Voluptuous Horror Of Karen Black.” They were a fantastic performance art band from New York. That year, or thereabouts, Frank Black released Teenager of the Year, which was an amazing record. Orange, a fantastic Jon Spencer Blues Explosion record, was available around the same time.
Grohl went on, “That was a funny time for me musically because I just didn’t really want to hear any music.” Then I realised, ‘Oh wait, I’m going to get better thanks to music. How am I acting? I should be enjoying some music. I need to be producing music that uplifts me, and it did.
When Grohl started performing again, writing songs served as a significant release for his sadness. The first three songs he wrote after Cobain’s passing were “Oh, George,” a tribute to George Harrison of The Beatles, “This Is a Call,” and “I’ll Stick Around”. All three were taken from Foo Fighters’ 1995 self-titled debut album.
One of the more intimate effects of Cobain’s passing on Grohl’s songwriting was “This Is a Call.” “This is a call to all my past resignations,” the musician clarified. It’s like a small wave to everyone I’ve ever performed music for, become friends with, and spent time with in my family and relationships. It’s a salutation and a small gesture of gratitude.
The song “I’ll Stick Around” struck a chord because of its hateful lyrics directed at Kurt Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love. After Cobain passed away, Grohl and Love got into a heated legal dispute over Love’s attempts to restrict Grohl’s access to Nirvana’s discography. “I don’t think it’s any secret that Courtney is the reason behind ‘I’ll Stick Around’. Grohl said to biographer Paul Brannigan in 2009. “After denying it for fifteen years, I’m now stating it publicly. Read the Fu*king words!
