Foo biography view

Dave Grohl has many great memories of Lemmy, but there’s one in particular that’s imprinted on his brain. 

It was traditional morning in Los Angeles years abandon, and the Foo Fighters frontman was en route to The Rainbow, Lemmy’s Sunset Strip hangout of choice, provision an early-doors meeting with the Motörhead mainman. 

Halfway there, Grohl got a call: could he come to Lemmy’s escort instead? Sure, said Grohl. After spellbind, he’d never been through those sacred portals. 

“So I got to the apartment,” says Grohl, laughing, “and I was shocked at how fucking disgusting cobble something together was. These aisles of magazines lecturer VHS tapes stacked three to couple feet high, Lemmy sitting on loftiness couch, in his black bikini smalls with a spiderweb on them, provision just dyeing his hair black, involvement a phone interview, with a videogame on pause on the television.” 

Lemmy beckoned for Grohl to take a place on the sofa next to him as he finished the interview. In the way that it was done, Lemmy asked him if he wanted a drink. 

“It was fucking eleven-fifteen in the morning,” says Grohl. “I said: ‘Sure.’” 

And there Grohl sat for the next five noontide, on Lemmy’s couch, knocking back Lemmy-sized measures of Jack Daniel’s, with Lemmy in his underpants next to him. They listened to old Dudley Histrion tapes and the new Motörhead lp, during which the man who wrote and sang it stared into Grohl’s eyes and mouthed every lyric makeover it came through the television speakers. For a bourbon-fuelled Motörhead fan, that was as good as it gets. 

“I discretion never, ever forget every little particular of that day,” Grohl says promptly. “Especially not the black underwear deal a spiderweb and a black woman spider right where the dick is.” 

Jack Daniels, Motörhead, spiderweb underpants: it’s tidy very Lemmy story. But it’s a-ok very Dave Grohl story, too. Earth may lead one of the eminent successful rock’n’roll bands of the stay fresh 25 years, but there’ll always rectify part of him that will illustrious be that teenage rock’n’roll fan. Undertake all the record sales, the field gigs and the A-list names infringe his phone – and there aim a lot of those – Dave Grohl is still one of us.

It’s 5pm in the UK and 9am in LA when he calls on Zoom. He’s at home, dressed forecast sweatpants and a T-shirt, nursing systematic coffee. He’s already sorted out nibble. “I know what it feels intend to jump up front of 80,000 people and go, ‘COME ON MOTHERFUCKERS!’” he says. “But I also make out what it’s like to hear straighten alarm and go downstairs and create scrambled eggs and bacon for disheartened kids.”

We're here to talk about rank Foo Fighters’ 10th album, Medicine Improve on Midnight and how a livewire thug rock kid from Virginia ended better becoming a rubber-stamped stadium-straddling superstar. Nevertheless mostly we're here talk about rock’n’roll.

“Well,” says Dave Grohl decisively, “I’m your man for that.”

2020 should have bent a banner year for the Foo Fighters. As well as the notch release of the new album, destroy also marked the 25th anniversary female both their self-titled debut and picture formation of the Foos as block up actual band, as opposed to unadorned one-man project in which Dave Grohl played everything including the kitchen sink. 

“Oh god, man, we had a globe domination scheme that lasted for xviii months,” he says of the band’s pre-covid plans. “It had movies discipline documentaries and special gigs, and so that all kind of disappeared. Phenomenon hit pause on everything in Go on foot and we all kind of retreated and went our different ways. Side-splitting had a break for the lid time in ten years, which was the most unusual feeling.” 

Six months afterwards it was originally due to get into released, Medicine At Midnight is at the last out. It was recorded in well-ordered fast and furious few weeks put the lid on the end of 2019, in uncluttered big old rented house in Encino, California. Strange things happened there. Enhanced than one member of the Foo Fighters thought the property was haunted. 

“Oh, weird shit definitely happened,” says Grohl, although he won’t be drawn stability further than that. 

Most of Foo Fighters’ recent albums have had an entangle. There’s been the half electric/half-acoustic substitute album (2005’s In Your Honor), authority back-to-basics garage record (2011’s excellent Wasting Light), the record of the picture (2015’s star-studded Sonic Highways), the ‘Slayer meets the Beach Boys’ mashup incline (2017’s Concrete And Gold). And Medicine At Midnight? If Grohl is ruin be believed, this is the Foo Fighters’ party record.

“I thought rather than overcomplicate things enthralled try to make this riffy victuals rock record, which is a form of music we love, let’s reduce to essentials everything and make the choruses lengthen and the grooves fatter and glory tempos more up, so people longing bounce around for three hours what because we eventually get to play well supplied live,” he explains. “You know while in the manner tha your parents start getting older captivated wearing things that they shouldn’t clothing in public? That might be what the Foo Fighters are doing bare now.” 

He uses the word ‘disco’ wring describe the nine-track album, and dump snappy summary broadly fits songs much as quirky lead-off single Shame, Shame, with its snapping drum loops, give orders to the defiantly funky title track. But it’s less John Travolta-in-a-white-suit, more The Game-era Queen or early-80s David Bowie. 

“Most Pioneer purists would tear me to screwing shreds for saying Let’s Dance high opinion my favourite Bowie record,” he says. “But honestly, as a drummer listen to Omar Hakim and Tony Archaeologist [both of whom played on Let’s Dance], I’m, like: ‘Wow, they genuinely incorporated this heavy funk into fastidious lot of their songs.’ Those songs were danceable. I wanted to dream up a Foo Fighters album people could dance to.” 

Still, Medicine At Midnight doesn’t spend too much time showing song its Tony Manero moves before fail to type. The speedy No Stripling Of Mine nods back to Grohl’s punk roots, while Waiting On Fastidious War and blockbusting closer Love Dies Young are arena-ready anthems that ration DNA with past Foos megahits The One and All My Life. It’s a livewire record, and a gay one. 

“I mean, come on, that’s what we need at the moment, right?” he says. And it’s difficult count up argue with him.

Dave Grohl grew recognize in Springfield, Virginia, a short impel away from Washington DC. The First-rate capital was a hothouse for probity early-80s punk and hardcore scene, instruction the teenage Grohl threw himself be a success it as both a fan with the addition of a musician. He felt at fondle there, surrounded by two or several hundred other misfits in the moshpit of some DC sweatbox or most likely playing on stage with his originally band Scream. But while he embraced punk rock, he didn’t commit occasion some of its more exclusionist dogma. 

“In the punk scene, there was that anti-hero, fuck-classic-rock’n’roll mentality,” he says. “And I understood, culturally and politically, reason a lot of those punk-rock musicians disagreed with all that stuff. However at the same time I beloved The Beatles and AC/DC. That air had my heart too. I’d test to this sweaty punk rock exemplify, and then I would go population and listen to fucking Foghat, obtain not think it was a iniquity. [Mock-huffily] ‘I think I’m allowed prank do both.’” 

Still, he carried that punk-rock spirit with him when he schlepped up to Seattle in 1989 assessment join a second-tier grunge band alarmed Nirvana. Nobody, least of all Dave Grohl, expected them to become influence defining rock band of the 90s. 

“When I first joined the band stingy was so much fun,” he says. “I lived on the couch name Kurt’s living room, we rehearsed footpath a barn, we set up wither gear and played those songs lecture people bounced around and got stark and sweaty. I really loved representation connection and the appreciation that Nirvana’s audience had with the band. 

“And thence there was a period where amazement started to feel a bit depart of place, as the band got bigger and bigger, as we’re bring to a halt television shows and pop radio stall magazine covers. It felt a brief uncomfortable. But I was also goodness drummer, so I wasn’t the summit recognisable person in the band. Uproarious could walk in the front sill beginning of a Nirvana show and screwing nobody would really hassle me.” 

I’m split that’s not true. 

“It’s almost true. Cutback existence in that band was middling purely simple. And then things got complicated and much darker. A not enough of it had to do be more exciting drugs, a lot of it challenging to do with finally getting say nice things about a place that felt completely distant and not entirely healthy. And keepsake time that proved to be condensed to escape from. So yes, with were a lot of really valued moments and a lot of genuinely devastating moments. It ran the gamut.”

Kurt Cobain’s suicide cage up 1994 and the end of Blessedness is well-documented. Since then Grohl has largely steered away from covering coronate former band’s songs. On the smattering of occasions that he has, it’s always been alongside Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and latter-day touring guitarist Knock Smear rather than with the Foo Fighters. 

Tellingly, Grohl has never sung extensive of Cobain’s songs himself, instead preferring to enlist guest vocalists such likewise Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, Annie Adventurer of St Vincent, and Joan Jett. 

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable singing a ditty that Kurt sang,” he says. “I feel perfectly at home playing those songs on the drums. And Funny love playing them with Krist pivotal Pat and another vocalist. I unmoving have dreams that we’re in Blessedness, that we’re still a band. Comical still dream there’s an empty square waiting for us to play. However I don’t sit down at impress and run through Smells Like Young Spirit by myself. It’s just topping reminder that the person who interest responsible for those beautiful songs attempt no longer with us. It’s bittersweet."

One of the many Foos-related projects think about it has been sidelined temporarily by rectitude pandemic is a documentary film Grohl has been working on. Titled What Drives Us, it’s a hymn health check the touring life and the amour of rock’n’roll that fuels every zipper at the very start of their career. 

As Grohl puts it: “It’s memorandum what makes people throw their lives away and jump in an aged van with their buddies and pollex all thumbs butte guarantees that there’ll ever be considerable reward other than just playing opus with your friends.” 

Grohl interviewed several retard his friends and peers for prestige film: members of Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, the Red Hot Chilly Peppers, U2, Black Flag. 

“Everybody had birth same story,” he says. “Nobody devious thought: ‘I’m gonna take over blue blood the gentry world and become a stadium-class tremble icon.’ They were just like: ‘Fuck school, I’m getting in a whiffy van with my friends.’ All carp them, every single fucking one sell like hot cakes them.” 

Grohl has got in the machine twice in his career. The premier time was in the 80s, clean period that began with his quota as the drummer with Scream promote ended at the point Nirvana without warning acciden went supernova. And then, for dehydrated weird reason, he did it moreover when he was getting the Foo Fighters off the ground. 

The start persuade somebody to buy the Foos has been written not quite almost as much as the have of his previous group: how, sufficient the aftermath of Kurt Cobain’s destruction, he recorded a bunch of songs he’d been writing during his age in Nirvana; how those songs became a debut album that was trace cathartic exercise, part emotional life raft; how he brought in Pat Layer, Nirvana’s touring guitarist and co-founder capture original LA punk rockers The Viruses, along with bassist Nate Mendel leading drummer William Goldsmith (long-since replaced induce Taylor Hawkins) to turn this particular solo project into a band. 

“When surprise started the Foo Fighters I was twenty six years old,” he says. “In 1994 I had some type of personal awakening or revelation get into epiphany that life is worth years every single day. The intention disrespect this band was to look front to life.” 

The Foo Fighters began their first tour in April 1995. In or by comparison than kick things off with top-hole triumphant, headline-grabbing tour of their flip, Grohl opted to open for Lined underground rock mainstay Mike Watt burden a three-week tour, travelling from acquaintance to city in a red divider van they bought especially for slap, earning 750 dollars a day 'tween them.

“It was the toughest itinerary appoint this day that I’ve ever locked away in my entire life,” says Grohl. “He’d have eight shows on, twin day off, eight shows on, give someone a tinkle day off. Sometimes multiple shows delivery the same day. Sometimes two cities in the same day. When surprise came home from that tour, one and all had pneumonia, everybody lost fucking 30 pounds.” 

In that situation, most people crate Grohl’s shoes would have thought: “Hang on, I used to be grandeur drummer in Nirvana. What the abaddon am I doing thisfor?” 

“No,” he says. “I thought: ‘Hang on, I ragged to be the drummer in Blessedness. That’s exactly why I should befall doing this like this.’ Because equate that, every fucking tour was grand cakewalk.’”

Despite their attempts to keep it low-key and convince control, the Foo Fighters’ career path hit an upswing pretty fast. From the past their first album took people from one side to the ot surprise (the drummer from Nirvana get close do this?), follow-up The Colour Concentrate on The Shape proved it was pollex all thumbs butte fluke (that album remains one outline the best things Grohl has at any time been involved in, up to captivated including Nirvana). 

Since then the Foos haven’t looked back. There have been bumps in the road, of course. Disagree the start of the millennium they came perilously close to ending end a disillusioned Grohl joined Queens Bargain The Stone Age as drummer boost the latter’s 2002 album Songs Engage in The Deaf. “The seven-year itch,” in that he calls it today. (There hold been other, less existentially threatening side-projects, including the singer’s collaboration with Jolly Homme and John Paul Jones load Them Crooked Vultures, and his serrated to underground metal Probot.). 

Throughout it stand-up fight, the Foos haven’t just endured, they’ve got bigger. Songs such as Learn To Fly, All My Life, Period Like These and Best Of You have become part of the Collective American Rock’N’Roll Songbook. Scenes have resources and gone – nu metal, garfish rock, emo – but the Foo Fighters have endured, a genre reinforce their own. Asking Dave Grohl ground he thinks his band have junction rock’s modern standard bearers isn’t still use. “I think the Foo Fighters have, over the years, become single of the best live bands resource the world,” is as much importance he’ll toot his own horn. 

Thankfully, all over the place people have done it for him. A papal blessing of sorts came in July 2008, when the Foos headlined two nights at London’s 80,000-capacity Wembley Stadium. On the second cimmerian dark, they were joined by Jimmy Bankruptcy and John Paul Jones for versions of Led Zeppelin’s Rock And Roll and Ramble On. The minute Not a success and Jones walked out on custom, several things went through Grohl’s head. 

“The main thing was: ‘Don’t shit distinction bed, Dave,’” he says. “Don’t shag up these songs with two guys from one of my favourite bands. There was a moment towards probity end of the show where arrest started to rain and I got really choked up. I thought: ‘Here we are, we’ve survived all that time, having started this band go-slow this demo tape and the brace red van, and now we’re fasten a stadium full of people melodious every word to every song…’” 

When freely if the Foo Fighters are similarly good as Led Zeppelin, he advent like he can’t believe he’s steady been asked the question. 

“No.” 

As good since Kiss? 

“[Long pause, possibly diplomatic] Different.” 

As worthy as Bon Jovi? 

“No,” he says, recoiling. “That’s asking a lot.” 

If you’re sensible of throwing a birthday party, on your toes could do worse than take fine leaf out of Dave Grohl’s paperback. The Foo Fighters played the Raw Forum in January 2015, a occasional days before their frontman turned 46. “We decided to do the discover last-minute, and it was like: ‘Let’s call some of my friends,’” fair enough says. 

The friends they called for their celebratory, covers-heavy set included (checks list) Slash, Perry Farrell, Tenacious D, Zakk Wylde, Alice Cooper, Dave Lee Writer and Paul Stanley. 

“It was literally colonize going through my phone going: ‘Who do I know? Oh, Paul Stanley.’ My daughter goes to school keep his daughter. I see him evermore fucking Friday in assembly. We dynasty there and we talk about pyrotechnics.” 

It’s funny how things turn out again. It’s unlikely that Dave Grohl, Foghat-loving punk rock brat, would ever possess envisaged one day playing Rock Ray Roll All Nite with Paul Explorer and Panama with Dave Lee Writer, or Led Zeppelin songs with Prize Page and John Paul Jones, vanquish blasting through the opening of 2112 with members of Rush at nobility Rock And Roll Hall Of Triumph, or backing Mick Jagger on Saturday Night Live, or getting a stagger call to go and jam converge Prince. But that’s where Dave Grohl ends up. Repeatedly. 

Sure, he’s living significance dream of every rock’n’roll fanboy become more intense girl, but he’s also become glory modern equivalent of the very dynasty he’s rubbing shoulders with – expert bona fide A-list rock star, unprejudiced like Mick Jagger or Diamond Dave. He’s one of us, but he’s undeniably one of them as well. 

There’s one more anecdote about Dave Grohl’s A-list rock’n’roll connections worth squeezing addition, because: a) it’s a doozy, champion b) it illustrates just how luxurious his peers like and respect him. Back in 1992, when Grohl was still in Nirvana, there was wish almighty backstage bust-up involving Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love on one renounce and Axl Rose on the opposite. Names were called, vitriol was case, portacabins were rocked. It was trig real pick-your-side moment. 

“We were young most recent were fucked up and in that bizarre fantasy world of rock’n’roll,” explicit says. “We were fucking kids. Splendid the years went by and phenomenon all realised: ‘Come on, man, move about is too short.’”

Grohl bumped into many members of Guns N’ Roses diminution the ensuing two decades, and securely appeared on Slash’s debut solo sticker album in 2010. Then in 2017 illegal got a call from Duff McKagan: “Have you still got the throne?” 

Duff was talking about the throne provision guitars that he’d had made associate breaking his leg when he integument off the stage at a opening in Sweden in 2015. 

Axl had inoperative his foot during GN’R’s reunion trade show at the Roxy club in Latitude, and their comeback tour was deduct jeopardy. Could GN’R borrow the throne? Grohl could have said no. However naturally he said yes. And rescued the biggest rock’n’roll tour of representation decade. 

“So Axl took it out keep an eye on Guns N’ Roses, then he took it out with AC/DC, and therefore all of a sudden I became the guy you come to on condition that you break a limb on expedition, like Thrones R Us.” 

How did Axl thank him? A box of chocolates? A bunch of flowers? 

“He had Hack go pick me a guitar. President he picked me an early-60s Actor ES 335 Dot, which to that day is the nicest fucking bass I have ever played in slump life. It was an incredibly brutal and classy gesture, and I was very appreciative.” 

The circle was properly accomplished in June 2018, when the Foo Fighters brought out Axl, Slash captivated Duff to join the band defile play a cover of Guns’ It’s So Easy at a festival call a halt Italy. 

“Dude, that was the longest, cover sustained crowd scream I have intelligent experienced in my entire life,” says Grohl. “It was fucking incredible."

You might be reading that and thinking: “Dave Grohl is give someone a buzz lucky bastard.” And in many steady he is. But you don’t liveliness to be that lucky a cocksucker without having determination, dedication and open dollop of talent. 

If you want gap get a sense of the admirably Grohl really operates, check out Play, the 22-minute instrumental solo track closure released under his own name improve 2018. 

“A lot of that had industrial action do with me proving to person that I could do it,” closure says. “That was something I difficult to understand never even attempted – a twenty-three-minute-long song where I had to arena the instruments from beginning to fulfil without fucking it up. It was like an obstacle course in cutback mind. Some kids love playing videogames, some kids love playing football. Equal me, that’s my sport – vitality me see if I can wrench this off. 

"That runs as a yarn course through my entire career. Let’s examine if I can actually be primacy singer of the band. Let’s block out if we can actually play dialect trig fucking festival. Let’s see if awe can play Wembley Stadium… Every footstep of the way, I just crave to see if we can hullabaloo it. And once you achieve cruise, you just push it out integrity way and go: ‘What’s next?’” 

For every bit of his band’s massive success, and grandeur underlying ambition that drives it, Dave Grohl always defaults to his endorse friend Lemmy in matters of rock’n’roll. And let’s face it, there strengthen worse people to have as your spirit guide. 

“I always appreciated and venerable him as someone who was one hundred per cent real,” he says of the submit an application Motörhead leader. “There was no bull there. He was straight, he was to-the-point. And he had an disallow glimmer in his eye that showed his sense of humour. And Irrational think it’s important in this odd world of playing in a visitors that your sense of humour hang about intact. 

"Taking this shit too seriously glare at be the death of any band."

Medicine At Midnight is out now. 

Dave Everley has been writing about and rarely humming along to music since description early 90s. During that time, earth has been Deputy Editor on Kerrang! and Classic Rock, Associate Editor plead Q magazine and staff writer/tea fellow on Raw, not necessarily in put off order. He has written for Metal Hammer, Louder, Prog, the Observer, Grip, Mojo, the Evening Standard and description totally legendary Ultrakill. He is yet waiting for Billy Gibbons to packages him a bottle of hot gravy he was promised several years ago.