David Eric Grohl (/ˈɡroʊl/; born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He founded the rock bandFoo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, guitarist, principal songwriter, and only consistent member. From 1990 to 1994, he was the drummer of thegrunge bandNirvana.
In 1986, at age 17, Grohl joined thepunk rock bandScream, replacing drummerKent Stax. After Scream broke up in 1990, Grohl became the drummer for Nirvana. He first appeared on the band's second album,Nevermind (1991). After the 1994suicide of Kurt Cobain, Nirvana disbanded and Grohl formed Foo Fighters as a one-man project. After he released the albumFoo Fighters in 1995, he assembled a full band to tour and record under the Foo Fighters name. They have since released 11 studio albums.
Grohl is also the drummer and co-founder of the rock supergroupThem Crooked Vultures, and has recorded and toured withQueens of the Stone Age andTenacious D. He has organized side projectsLate!, which released the albumPocketwatch, andProbot. Grohl began directing Foo Fighters music videos in 1997. He released his debut documentary,Sound City, in 2013, followed by the 2014 documentary miniseriesSonic Highways and the 2021 documentary filmWhat Drives Us. In 2021, Grohl released an autobiography,The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music.[1][2] In 2022, he and the Foo Fighters starred as themselves in the comedy horror filmStudio 666.
In 2016,Rolling Stone ranked Grohl the 27th-best drummer of all time.[3] Grohl was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Nirvana in 2014 and as a member of Foo Fighters in 2021.[4]
Grohl was born inWarren, Ohio, on January 14, 1969,[5] the son of teacher Virginia Jean (née Hanlon) and newswriter James Harper Grohl.[6] He is of German, Slovak (on his father's side), Irish, and English (on his mother's side) descent.[7][8] His father, James, was a journalist and the special assistant to U.S. SenatorRobert Taft Jr. James was described as "a talented political observer who possessed the ability to call every major election with uncanny accuracy".[9] When he was a child, Grohl's family moved toSpringfield, Virginia. When he was seven, his parents divorced,[10] and he was subsequently raised by his mother. At the age of 12, he began learning to play guitar. He grew tired of lessons and instead taught himself, eventually playing in bands with friends.[11] He said, "I was going in the direction of faster, louder, darker while my sister, Lisa, three years older, was getting seriously intonew wave territory. We'd meet in the middle sometimes withBowie andSiouxsie and the Banshees."[12]
At 13, Grohl and his sister spent the summer at their cousin Tracey's house inEvanston, Illinois. Tracey introduced them topunk rock by taking the pair to shows by a variety of punk bands. His first concert wasNaked Raygun atThe Cubby Bear in Chicago in 1982.[13] Grohl recalled, "From then on we were totally punk. We went home and boughtMaximumrocknroll and tried to figure it all out."[11] In Virginia, he attendedThomas Jefferson High School as a freshman, and was elected class vice president. In that capacity, he managed to play pieces of songs by punk bands likeCircle Jerks andBad Brains over the school intercom before his morning announcements. His mother decided he should transfer toBishop Ireton High School inAlexandria because hiscannabis use was lowering his grades. He stayed there for two years, beginning with a repeat of his first year. After his second year, he transferred yet again toAnnandale High School.[11] While in high school, he played in several local bands, including a stint as guitarist in a band called Freak Baby, and taught himself to play drums.[14] When Freak Baby fired its bass player and reshuffled its lineup, Grohl switched to drums. The reconstituted band renamed itself Mission Impossible.[11]
Grohl said he did not take formal drum lessons; instead, he taught himself how to play the drums by listening toRush andpunk rock.[15] Rush drummerNeil Peart was an early influence: "When I got2112 when I was eight years old, it fucking changed the direction of my life. I heard the drums. It made me want to become a drummer."[16][17] During his developing years as a drummer, Grohl citedJohn Bonham as his greatest influence, and eventually had Bonham'sthree-rings symbol tattooed on his right shoulder.[18] Mission Impossible rebranded themselves Fast before breaking up, after which Grohl joined thehardcore punk band Dain Bramage in December 1985.[19][20] In March 1987, Dain Bramage ended when Grohl quit without warning to join Scream, having produced theI Scream Not Coming Down LP. Many of Grohl's early influences were at the9:30 Club, a music venue in Washington, D.C. In April 2010, he said, "I went to the 9:30 Club hundreds of times. I was always so excited to get there, and I was always bummed when it closed. I spent my teenage years at the club and saw some shows that changed my life."[21]
As a teenager in Washington, D.C., Grohl briefly contemplated joiningGwar, ashock rock band that was seeking a drummer.[22] At age 17, he auditioned for the local bandScream after the departure of the drummer, Kent Stax. Grohl lied about his age, claiming he was older.[23] To his surprise, the band asked him to join, so he dropped out of high school in his junior year. He said: "I was 17 and extremely anxious to see the world, so I did it."[24]
Over the next four years, Grohl toured extensively with Scream, recording a live album (their show of May 4, 1990, in Alzey, Germany, being released by Tobby Holzinger asYour Choice Live Series Vol.10) and two studio albums,No More Censorship andFumble, for which Grohl wrote and sang "Gods Look Down". During a Toronto stop on their 1987 tour, Grohl played drums forIggy Pop at a CD release party held atEl Mocambo.[25] In 1990, Scream unexpectedly disbanded mid-tour following the departure of their bassist,Skeeter Thompson.[26]
While playing in Scream, Grohl became a fan of theMelvins and eventually befriended them. During a 1990 tour stop on theWest Coast, the Melvins guitaristBuzz Osborne took his friendsKurt Cobain andKrist Novoselic, members ofNirvana, to see a Scream performance.[27] In October 2010, Grohl toldQ, "I remember being in the same room with them and thinking, 'What?That's Nirvana? Are you kidding?' Because on their record cover they looked like psycho lumberjacks... I was like, 'What, that little dude and that big motherfucker? You're kidding me.'"[28] Following the breakup of Scream, Grohl called Osborne for advice.[29] Osborne informed him that Nirvana was seeking a drummer, and gave Grohl the phone numbers of Cobain and Novoselic, who invited Grohl to Seattle to audition. Grohl soon joined.[26]
Nirvana had already recorded several demos for the followup to their 1989 debut album,Bleach, and had spent time recording with the producerButch Vig inWisconsin. Initially, the plan was to release the album onSub Pop, but Nirvana received a great deal of interest based on the demos. Grohl spent the initial months with Nirvana traveling to various labels to discuss record deals, and signed withDGC Records.[30]
In early 1991, the band enteredSound City Studios in Los Angeles to recordNevermind, which is depicted in Grohl's 2013 documentarySound City.[30]Nevermind (1991) exceeded all expectations and became a worldwide commercial success.[31] At the same time, Grohl was compiling and recording his own material, which he released on a cassette,Pocketwatch in 1992, on the indie label Simple Machines. Grohl released the cassette under the pseudonym "Late!"[32]
In the later years with Nirvana, Grohl's songwriting contributions to the band increased. In Grohl's initial months inOlympia, Washington,[33] Cobain overheard him working on the song "Color Pictures of a Marigold", and the two subsequently worked on it together. Grohl later recorded the song for thePocketwatch cassette. Grohl said in a 2014 episode ofFoo Fighters: Sonic Highways that Cobain reacted by kissing him upon first hearing a demo of "Alone + Easy Target" that Grohl had recently recorded.[34]
During the sessions forIn Utero, Nirvana rerecorded "Color Pictures of a Marigold" and released it as a B-side on the "Heart-Shaped Box" single, retitled "Marigold". Grohl also contributed the riff for "Scentless Apprentice". Cobain said in a 1993 interview withMTV that he initially thought the riff was "kind of boneheaded", but was gratified at how the song developed, a process captured in part in a demo on the Nirvana box setWith the Lights Out. Cobain said that he was excited at the possibility of having Novoselic and Grohl contribute more to the band's songwriting.[35]
Prior to Nirvana's 1994 European tour, the band scheduled session time atRobert Lang Studios in Seattle to work on demos. For most of the three-day session, Cobain was absent, so Novoselic and Grohl worked on demos of their own songs. They completed several of Grohl's songs, including the futureFoo Fighters songs "Exhausted", "Big Me", "February Stars", and "Butterflies". Cobain arrived on the third day, and the band recorded a demo of "You Know You're Right". It was Nirvana's final studio recording before thesuicide of Cobain on April 5, 1994.[36][37] On April 10, 2014, Grohl was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Nirvana.[38]
Following Cobain's death, Grohl went into isolation and retreated for several months, unsure of what to do next, and moved toCounty Kerry, Ireland.[39] In a 2022 interview, Grohl said:
I was still in Seattle, and I just felt, "I gotta get out." I [had to] go somewhere where I could just disappear and sort through my life, and try to figure out what to do next... I was winding around these country roads – so beautiful – and I was finding peace… and I come upon this hitchhiker, and I was considering picking him up, and I saw that he had a Kurt Cobain T-shirt. And to me that meant: "You can't outrun this thing, so it's time … to push through and find some sort of continuation." So I flew home and I immediately started recording those Foo Fighters songs.
In October 1994, he scheduled studio time atRobert Lang Studios and quickly recorded a fifteen-track demo. With the exception of a single guitar part on "X-Static" played byGreg Dulli ofthe Afghan Whigs, Grohl performed all of the instruments himself.[41]
Grohl wondered if his future might be in drumming for other bands. In November, Grohl took a brief turn withTom Petty and the Heartbreakers, including a performance onSaturday Night Live. He declined an invitation to become Petty's permanent drummer.[42][43] Grohl was also rumored as a possible replacement forPearl Jam drummerDave Abbruzzese and performed with the band for a song or two at three shows during Pearl Jam's March 1995 Australian tour. However, by then, Pearl Jam had already settled on ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers drummerJack Irons, and Grohl had other solo plans.[44][45]
After his demo received interest from major labels, Grohl was signed byGary Gersh, Nirvana'sA&R rep-turned-president ofCapitol Records. Grohl did not want the effort to be considered the start of a solo career, so he recruited other band members: former Germs and touring Nirvana guitaristPat Smear and two members of the recently disbandedSunny Day Real Estate:William Goldsmith (drums) andNate Mendel (bass).[46] He and Novoselic decided against Novoselic joining; Grohl said it would have felt "really natural" for them to work together again, but would have been uncomfortable for the other band members and placed more pressure on Grohl.[47] Grohl's demo was remixed byRob Schnapf andTom Rothrock and released in July 1995 as Foo Fighters'self-titled debut album.[48] During a break between tours, the band entered the studio and recorded a cover ofGary Numan's "Down in the Park". In February 1996, Grohl and his then-wife Jennifer Youngblood made a briefcameo appearance onThe X-Files third-season episode "Pusher".[49]
After touring for the self-titled album for more than a year, Grohl returned home and began work on the soundtrack to the 1997 movieTouch. Grohl performed all of the instruments and vocals himself, save for vocals fromVeruca Salt singerLouise Post on the title track, keyboards by Barrett Jones (who also co-produced the record) on one track, and vocals and guitar byX'sJohn Doe on "This Loving Thing (Lynn's Song)". Grohl completed the recording in two weeks, and immediately joined Foo Fighters to work on their follow-up.
During the initial sessions for Foo Fighters' second album, tension emerged between Grohl and drummer Goldsmith. Goldsmith said, "Dave had me do 96 takes of one song, and I had to do 13 hours' worth of takes on another one...It just seemed that everything I did wasn't good enough for him, or anyone else". Goldsmith also believed that Capitol and producerGil Norton wanted Grohl to drum on the album.[50] With the album seemingly complete, Grohl headed home to Virginia with a copy of the rough mixes and found himself unhappy with the results. He wrote and recorded a few new songs, "Walking After You" and the hit single "Everlong", alone at a studio in Washington, D.C. Inspired by the session, Grohl opted to move the band, without Goldsmith's knowledge,[50] to Los Angeles to re-record most of the album with Grohl on drums. After the sessions were complete, Goldsmith announced his departure from the band, and was replaced by FormerAlanis Morissette drummerTaylor Hawkins.[51] Grohl later expressed regret, and said, "There were a lot of reasons it didn't work out, but there was also a part of me that was like, you know, I don't know if I'm finished playing the drums yet".[52]
The album was released in May 1997 asThe Colour and the Shape. It produced several singles, including "Everlong", "My Hero", and "Monkey Wrench", and cemented Foo Fighters as a staple of rock radio.[53]
The following September, Smear left the band, citing a need to settle down after a lifetime of touring.[10] Smear was replaced by Grohl's formerScream bandmateFranz Stahl. Stahl departed before the band recorded its third album[10] and was replaced by touring guitaristChris Shiflett, who later became a full-fledged member during the recording ofOne by One.
Grohl's life of non-stop touring and travel continued with Foo Fighters' popularity. During his infrequent pauses he lived in Seattle and Los Angeles before returning toAlexandria, Virginia. It was there that he turned his basement into a recording studio where the 1999 albumThere Is Nothing Left to Lose was recorded.[54] It was recorded following the departure from Capitol and their former president Gary Gersh. Grohl described the recording experience as "intoxicating at times" because the band members were left completely to their own devices. He added, "One of the advantages of finishing the record before we had a new label was that it was purely our creation. It was complete and not open to outside tampering."[55]
In 2000, the band recruitedQueen guitaristBrian May to add some guitar flourish to a cover ofPink Floyd's "Have a Cigar", a song which Foo Fighters previously recorded as a B-side. The friendship between the two bands resulted in Grohl and Taylor Hawkins being asked to induct Queen into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.[56] Grohl and Hawkins joined May and Queen drummerRoger Taylor to perform "Tie Your Mother Down", with Grohl standing in on vocals forFreddie Mercury.[57] May later contributed guitar work for the song "Tired of You" on the ensuing Foo Fighters album, as well as on an unreleased Foo Fighters song called "Knucklehead".
Grohl performing in 2005
Near the end of 2001, Foo Fighters returned to the studio to work on their fourth album. After four months in the studio, with the sessions finished, Grohl accepted an invitation to joinQueens of the Stone Age and helped them to record their 2002 albumSongs for the Deaf. (Grohl can be seen drumming for the band in the video for the song "No One Knows".) After a brief tour through North America, Britain and Japan with the band[10] and feeling rejuvenated by the effort, Grohl recalled the other band members to completely re-record their album at his studio in Virginia. The effort became their fourth album,One by One.
On November 23, 2002, Grohl achieved a historical milestone by replacing himself on the top of theBillboardmodern 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.
Grohl and Foo Fighters released their fifth albumIn Your Honor on June 14, 2005. Prior to starting work on the album, the band spent almost a year relocating Grohl's home-based Virginia studio to a brand new facility, dubbedStudio 606, located in a warehouse near Los Angeles. Featuring collaborations withJohn Paul Jones ofLed Zeppelin,Josh Homme ofQueens of the Stone Age andNorah Jones, the album was a departure from previous efforts, and included one rock and one acoustic disc.
Foo Fighters' sixth studio albumEchoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was released on September 25, 2007. It was recorded during a three-month period between March 2007 and June 2007, and its release was preceded by the first single "The Pretender" on September 17. The second single, "Long Road to Ruin", was released on December 3, 2007, followed by the third single, "Let It Die", on June 24, 2008.
Foo Fighters in 2009; from left to right: Hawkins, Shiflett, Grohl, Mendel
On November 3, 2009, Foo Fighters released their firstGreatest Hits collection, consisting of 16 tracks including a previously unreleased acoustic version of "Everlong" and two new tracks "Wheels" and "Word Forward" which were produced byNevermind's producerButch Vig. Grohl said he felt theGreatest Hits was too early and "can look like an obituary". He did not feel they had written their best hits yet.[58]
Foo Fighters' seventh studio album,Wasting Light, was released on April 12, 2011. It became the band's first album to reach No. 1 in the United States.[59] Despite rumors of a hiatus,[60] Grohl confirmed in January 2013 that the band had completed writing material for their follow-up toWasting Light.[61]
Grohl and members of Foo Fighters sometimes perform as a cover band "Chevy Metal",[62] as they did in May 2015 at "Conejo Valley Days", a county fair in Thousand Oaks, California.
On November 10, 2014, Foo Fighters released their eighth studio album,Sonic Highways, which reached number two in the United States. The album features eight songs, each inspired by a different U.S. city's musical history and culture researched by Grohl himself.[63]
On June 12, 2015, while playing a show in Gothenburg, Sweden, Grohl fell off the stage, breaking his leg. He left temporarily and returned with a cast to finish the concert.[64] Afterward, the band canceled the remainder of its European tour. To avoid having to cancel the band's upcoming North American tour, Grohl designed a large "elevated throne" which would allow him to perform on stage with a broken leg. The throne was unveiled at a concert in Washington, D.C., on July 4, where Grohl used the stage's video screens to show the crowd video of him falling from the stage in Gothenburg as well as X-rays of his broken leg.[65] Beginning with the show on July 4, Foo Fighters began selling new tour merchandise rebranding the band's North American tour as theBroken Leg Tour.[65] In 2016, Grohl lent his throne toAxl Rose ofGuns N' Roses after Rose broke his foot.[66] He lent it again in 2021 to Darin Wall, of the Seattle metal band Greyhawk, after Wall was shot in the leg.[66]
On July 31, 2015, Grohl posted a personal reply to Fabio Zaffagnini,Marco Sabiu, and the 1,000 participants of the "Rockin' 1000" project inCesena, Italy, thanking them for their combined performance of the Foo Fighters' song "Learn to Fly", indicating (in broken Italian), "... I promise [Foo Fighters will] see you soon".[67][68] On November 3, Foo Fighters performed in Cesena, where Grohl invited some "Rockin' 1000" members onto the stage to perform with the band.[69]
On September 15, 2017, Foo Fighters released their ninth studio albumConcrete and Gold, which became the band's second album to debut at number one on theBillboard 200.[59] After theConcrete and Gold Tour, Grohl announced that the band would be taking a break.[70] The tenth Foo Fighters studio album,Medicine at Midnight, was released on February 5, 2021, following delays due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[71][72][73] It debuted at number three on theBillboard 200.[59] TheMedicine at Midnight tour was canceled following the death of Hawkins on March 25, 2022.[74] The eleventh Foo Fighters studio albumBut Here We Are was released on June 2, 2023.[75] The album is dedicated to Hawkins and Grohl's mother, Virginia, both of whom died in 2022.[76]
Grohl frequently participates in music projects apart from his main bands. In 1992, he played drums onBuzz Osborne'sKiss-styled solo-EPKing Buzzo; he was credited as "Dale Nixon", a pseudonym thatGreg Ginn adopted to play bass onBlack Flag'sMy War. He also released the music cassettePocketwatch under the pseudonymLate! on the now-defunct indie labelSimple Machines.
In 1994, Grohl played drums on two tracks forMike Watt'sBall-Hog or Tugboat?. In early 1995, Grohl and Foo Fighters played their first US tour: theRing Spiel Tour, opening for Watt and also playing, alongside Eddie Vedder, in Watt's supporting band.[79]
In 2003, Grohl stepped behind the kit to perform onKilling Joke's second self titled album,Killing Joke (2003 album).[83] This surprised some fans of Nirvana, which had been accused of plagiarizing the opening riff of "Come as You Are" from Killing Joke's 1984 song "Eighties".[84] However, the controversy failed to create a lasting rift between the bands. Foo Fighters covered Killing Joke's "Requiem" during the late 1990s, and were joined by Killing Joke singerJaz Coleman for a performance of the song at a show in New Zealand in 2003.[85] Also in 2003, at the45th Annual Grammy Awards, Grohl performed in an ad hoc supergroup withBruce Springsteen,Elvis Costello, andSteven Van Zandt in tribute to the recently deceased singer/guitaristJoe Strummer.[86]
In July 2009, Grohl along withJosh Homme andJohn Paul Jones formed asupergroup,Them Crooked Vultures.[96][97] The trio performed their first show together on August 9, 2009, atMetro in Chicago.[98] The band played their first UK gig on August 26, 2009, with a surprise appearance at Brixton Academy in London, supporting theArctic Monkeys. The band released their debut albumThem Crooked Vultures on November 16, 2009, in the UK and November 17, 2009, in the US.
On October 23, 2010, Grohl performed withTenacious D atBlizzCon. He appeared as the drummer for the entire concert, and a year later he returned with Foo Fighters and played another set there, this time as guitarist and vocalist.[99][100]
Also in 2010, Grohl helped write and performed on drums for "Watch This" with guitaristSlash and Duff McKagan on Slash's self-titled album that also included many other famous artists.[101]
Grohl directed a documentary entitledSound City (2013) which is about theVan Nuys studio of the same name whereNevermind was recorded that shut down its music operations in 2011.[103][104]
At12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief, Paul McCartney joined Grohl and the surviving members of Nirvana (Krist Novoselic and touring guitaristPat Smear) to perform "Cut Me Some Slack", a song later recorded for the Sound City soundtrack.[106] In what was regarded as a Nirvana reunion with McCartney as a stand-in for Kurt Cobain, this was the first time in eighteen years that the three had played alongside each other.[107][108][109][110]
On March 14, 2013, Grohl delivered a keynote speech at the 2013South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. He described his musical life from youth through to the Foo Fighters and emphasized the importance of each individual's voice: "There is no right or wrong—there is only your voice ...What matters most is that it's your voice. Cherish it. Respect it. Nurture it. Challenge it. Respect it." Grohl said during the speech thatPsy's "Gangnam Style" was one of his favorite songs of the past decade. He also saidEdgar Winter's instrumental "Frankenstein" was the song that made him want to become a musician.[111]
Grohl worked closely with indie hip-hop bandRDGLDGRN on their EP. While Grohl was filming hisSound City documentary, the group asked the fellow native of Northern Virginia to drum on "I Love Lamp". Grohl wound up drumming for the entire record, with the exception of "Million Fans", which features a sampled breakbeat.
Grohl, a fan of theatrical Swedish metal bandGhost, produced their EPIf You Have Ghost. He was also featured in a number of songs on the EP. Grohl played rhythm guitar for the song "If You Have Ghosts" (a cover of aRoky Erickson song), and drums on "I'm a Marionette" (anABBA cover) as well as "Waiting for the Night" (aDepeche Mode cover). According to a member of Ghost, Grohl has appeared live in concert with the band wearing the same identity concealing outfit that the rest of the band usually wears.[114]
On August 10, 2018, Grohl released "Play", a solo recording lasting over 22 minutes. A mini documentary accompanied it.[115] That same year, Grohl invited ten-year-old Collier Cash Rule on stage at a Foo Fighters concert in Kansas City, Missouri and gave him his guitar. Rule played several Metallica songs and Grohl sang one verse and the chorus to "Enter Sandman".[116]
Between August and November 2020, Grohl participated in an online drum battle with ten-year-old drummerNandi Bushell, who had releasedcover versions of Nirvana and Foo Fighters songs on her YouTube channel, then challenged the elder drummer to a contest. After going back and forth with Bushell a few times, Grohl jokingly conceded victory to her, and wrote and performed a song in her honor. Grohl invited Bushell to perform with the Foo Fighters on stage during their August 26, 2021, show at theL.A. Forum, where she played drums on "Everlong", the show's finale.[117] The videos of the drum battle received tens of millions of views.[118][119]
DuringHanukkah of 2020, Grohl collaborated withGreg Kurstin to release previously recorded covers of songs by Jewish artists under the monikerThe Hanukkah Sessions, one per night.[120] This continued in 2021 and 2022.
On October 5, 2021, Grohl's memoirThe Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music was published byDey Street Books.[1][2] Grohl developed a thrash metal record for a fictional band named Dream Widow (who self-destructed 25 years ago), as developed for a horror-comedy movie titledStudio 666. Grohl worked to create the Dream Widow album and aimed to release it at the same time as the film, on February 25, 2022.[121][122] On March 25, 2022, the self-titledDream Widow EP was released to digital streaming services featuring eight tracks ranging from thrash, death and extreme metal. The EP also featured Rami Jaffee, Jim Rota and Oliver Roman.[123]
On June 25, 2022, Grohl duetted withPaul McCartney when he headlined theGlastonbury Festival. It was his first performance since the death of Taylor Hawkins earlier in the year.[124][125]
Grohl has also appeared in several sketches onSNL. On October 13, 2007, he performed in theSNL Digital Short "People Getting Punched Just Before Eating".[128] On February 6, 2010, he appeared as a middle-aged punk rock drummer reuniting the group "Crisis of Conformity" (fronted byFred Armisen) after 25 years in a skit later on in the episode.[129] On April 9, 2011, he appeared in theSNL Digital Short "Helen Mirren's Magical Bosom" and the sketch "Bongo's Clown Room".[130]
In mid-2010, Grohl added his name to the list of contributing rock star voice cameos for Cartoon Network's heavy metal parody/tribute show,Metalocalypse. He voiced the controversial Syrian dictator, Abdule Malik in the season 3 finale,Doublebookedklok.
In February 2013, Grohl filled in as host ofChelsea Lately for a week. Guests includedElton John, who disclosed on theE! show that he would appear with Grohl on the nextQueens of the Stone Age album.[131] Grohl had previously hosted the show during the first week of December 2012 as part of "Celebrity Guest Host Week".
Grohl appeared in the 50th anniversary season ofSesame Street in February 2019.[133] On January 28, it was announced that the first authorized Dave Grohl documentary will be released via The Coda Collection.[134] On October 8, Grohl was the guest storyteller onCBeebiesBedtime Story, reading a story based onthe Beatles song "Octopus's Garden".[135]
Accompanying the release ofSonic Highways, Grohl directedan eight-part documentary miniseries of the same name that chronicles the album's development and recording across eight different American cities. It premiered onHBO on October 17, 2014.[138]
In 2021, Grohl directedWhat Drives Us, a feature-length documentary on van touring. It was released on April 30, 2021, on the Coda Collection viaAmazon Prime.[139]
Grohl's primary recording guitar is an original cherry redGibson Trini Lopez Standard that he bought in the early 1990s, while still with Nirvana, because he liked the different style of headstock and the diamond-shaped sound holes on what was otherwise anES-335.[151] Onstage during early Foo Fighters tours, Grohl played two GibsonLes Pauls, then relied primarily on a pair of black GibsonExplorers while touring forThe Colour and the Shape,There is Nothing Left to Lose, andOne by One.[151]
Since 2017, Grohl's primary stage guitar has been his signature model Pelham BlueGibson DG-335, which was designed by Gibson based on the Trini Lopez Standard specs, but in different colors, with a stop tailpiece instead of the Trini Lopez's trapeze tailpiece andPAF-style "Burstbucker" pickups.[151] For the Foo Fighters' return in 2023, Grohl also began playing a DG-335 in a white finish, matching the aesthetics ofBut Here We Are.[152] His primary acoustic guitar is a black Elvis Presley modelGibson Dove.[151]
In May 2006, Grohl sent a note of support to the two trapped miners in theBeaconsfield mine collapse inTasmania, Australia, who had survived the initial rockfall. In the initial days following the collapse, one of the men requested aniPod with the Foo Fighters albumIn Your Honor.[153] In October 2006, one of the miners took up his offer, joining Grohl for a drink after a Foo Fighters acoustic concert at theSydney Opera House.[154] Following the event, Grohl wrote "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners", an instrumental piece,[155] which was included on Foo Fighters' 2007 releaseEchoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and featuresKaki King.[156]
He has worn aWhite Knot ribbon, a symbol of support forsame-sex marriage, to various events; when questioned about the knot, he responded, "I believe in love and I believe in equality and I believe in marriage equality."[157] Grohl'sgay rights activism dates back to the early 1990s, when Nirvana performed at a benefit to raise money to fightOregon Ballot Measure 9, which forbade governments in Oregon from promoting or facilitating homosexuality.[158] Grohl participated in two counter-protests against theWestboro Baptist Church for their anti-gay stance: in 2011, by performing "Keep It Clean" on the back of a flatbed truck and in 2015, byRickrolling them.[159][160]
Despite growing up with a firearm, Grohl is an advocate forgun control.[161] In a 2008 interview, Grohl said he had never usedcocaine, heroin, orspeed, and that he had stopped smokingcannabis and takingLSD at the age of 20.[162] He contributed to a 2009 anti-drug video for theBBC. He has described himself as a coffee addict who drinks an average of six cups of coffee every morning; in 2009, he was admitted to a hospital with chest pains caused by a caffeine overdose.[163]
In 1994, Grohl married Jennifer Leigh Youngblood, a photographer fromGrosse Pointe, Michigan. They separated in December 1996 and divorced in 1997; Grohl admitted toinfidelity.[169] After divorcing Youngblood, Grohl briefly dated snowboarderTina Basich. Basich ended the relationship after discovering his infidelity.[170] From 1999 to 2001, Grohl dated formerHole bassistMelissa Auf der Maur.[171] In 2003, he married Jordyn Blum; they had met at the Sunset Marquis Whiskey Bar inWest Hollywood, California. They reside in Los Angeles[172] and have three daughters, born in 2006, 2009, and 2014.[173] In September 2024, Grohl announced that he had fathered a daughter outside his marriage, and asked his family for forgiveness.[174][175] In March 2025, it was reported that Blum was willing to forgive Grohl and they were working on saving their marriage.[176]
In a June 2011 interview, Grohl revealed that he was going deaf in his left ear due to decades of performing on stage.[177] During his appearance onThe Howard Stern Show in February 2022, he stated that he suffers from hearing loss and that this has an impact on both his daily life and life as a musician; histinnitus has forced him toread lips for about 20 years, a situation that became more difficult when people began wearing face masks during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[178] When playing, he refuses to usein-ear monitors despite their ability to protect his ears because it "removes you from the natural atmosphere sound".[178]
In August 2009, Grohl was given thekey to the city ofWarren, Ohio, his birthplace, and performed the songs "Everlong", "Times Like These", and "My Hero". A roadway in downtown Warren named "David Grohl Alley" has been dedicated to him with murals by local artists.[5][184]
In 2012, Grohl's hometown of Warren unveiled oversized 902 lb (409 kg) drumsticks, listed in theGuinness Book of World Records for the largest drumsticks in the world. They were also displayed on July 7, 2012, at a concert at the Warren Amphitheater.[185][186] Grohl's first soloRolling Stone cover story was published on December 4, 2014.[187] In 2016, Grohl was ranked 27th on the list of the best drummers of all time byRolling Stone.[3] Grohl receivedthe George and Ira Gershwin Award in 2024.[188]
^Mundy, Chris (October 5, 1995)."Invasion of the Foo Fighters".Rolling Stone.Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. RetrievedNovember 18, 2014. Excerpt only; subscription required for full article.
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpeg)
.jpg)
