Dave Grohl is the kind of musician who’ll work with just about anyone he admires. While he’s vocal about the sound of Foo Fighters, if a band strikes his fancy, he’ll be there—whether it’s onstage or in the studio. Take Slash, for example. The iconic Guns N’ Roses guitarist was thrilled to have Grohl play drums on his solo track “Watch This.” But when he asked the Foo Fighters frontman to contribute vocals, Grohl flat-out refused.
Anyone familiar with the history between Nirvana and Guns N’ Roses would have understood the baggage that came with these two musicians collaborating. While the infamous feud between Axl Rose and Kurt Cobain was the central issue, Grohl’s infamous mocking of Rose during the MTV Awards in the early ’90s likely didn’t help matters either. Still, by the time Slash was working on his solo album, tensions had cooled significantly. With Velvet Revolver falling apart and his Guns N’ Roses days far behind him, Slash was eager to bring in his favorite musicians for his new project.
Grohl’s refusal to sing on “Watch This” was a surprise. Slash had already enlisted other musicians, like Lemmy and Adam Levine, but Grohl insisted that he would only play drums. Despite Slash’s persistence, Grohl was firm. He simply wasn’t interested in singing. As Slash recalls, “I didn’t want it to be epic; I wanted it to be three minutes long, and it came together very quickly with a very spontaneous, live kind of vibe. Actually, I tried to get Dave to sing it, but he wouldn’t sing it, so I just said f—k it, we’ll put guitars on it. He was adamant about not singing. He was like, I just wanna play drums, and he’s a f—ing phenomenal drummer.”
The decision, however, worked out for the song. As an instrumental, it fit seamlessly into the rest of Slash’s album, providing a raw, unpolished jam session that stood out in a collection that otherwise featured a rotating cast of singers. The track served as a refreshing breather, allowing listeners to shift gears before diving into more adventurous songs, like “Starlight,” featuring Myles Kennedy.
Grohl’s refusal to sing likely comes down to his preference for being a drummer. The whole reason Foo Fighters came together was because he wanted to experiment with music in a new way, and even in collaborations, his first love remains the drums. Whether it’s guesting with Queens of the Stone Age or adding depth to a Nine Inch Nails track, Grohl’s focus has always been on rhythm. For him, vocals are for the rockstars. But, at the core, Grohl is a musician who will always gravitate back to the role that made him a household name: the drummer.
