David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter, who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter and founder of the Foo Fighters, prior to which he was the drummer in the grunge band Nirvana. He is also the drummer and co-founder of the rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures.
Background
David Eric Grohl was born on January 14, 1969 in Warren, Ohio, the son of teacher Virginia Jean (née Hanlon) and newswriter James Harper Grohl (1938-2014). He is of German, Irish, and Slovak descent. When he was a child, Grohl's family moved to Springfield, Virginia. When Grohl was seven, his parents divorced, and he subsequently grew up with his mother.
Education
At the age of 12, he began learning to play guitar. He grew tired of lessons and instead taught himself, and he eventually began playing in bands with friends. At that age, "I was going in the direction of faster, louder, darker while my sister, Lisa, three years older, was getting seriously into new wave territory. We’d meet in the middle sometimes with Bowie and Siouxsie And The Banshees". At 13, Grohl and his sister spent the summer in Evanston, Illinois, at their cousin Tracy's house. Tracy introduced them to punk rock by taking the pair to shows by a variety of punk bands. His first concert was Naked Raygun at The Cubby Bear in Chicago in 1982 when he was 13 years old.
In Virginia, Grohl attended Thomas Jefferson High School as a freshman. He was elected vice president of his freshman class and in that capacity would manage to play bits of songs by punk bands like Circle Jerks and Bad Brains over the school intercom before his morning announcements. Grohl's mother decided that he should transfer to Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria because his cannabis use was affecting his grades. He stayed there for two years, beginning with a repeat of his first year. After his second year, he transferred yet again to Annandale High School. While in high school, Grohl played in several local bands, including a stint as guitarist in a band called Freak Baby. It was during this period that Grohl taught himself to play drums.
After dropping out in his junior year, he joined the Washington, D.C.-based hardcore band, Scream. Grohl appeared on three of the group’s albums and toured with them several times.
During one tour, Grohl met up with members of the Melvins, a punk band. It was backstage at a Melvins gig that he saw Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic from Nirvana for the first time in 1990. Grohl did not talk to his future bandmates that night. But thanks to Buzz Osbourne of the Melvins, he did get to audition for Nirvana later that year. Grohl traveled to Seattle, hoping to become Nirvana’s new drummer. As soon as he played for them, both Cobain and Novoselic thought he would be perfect for their band. “He was a hard hitter... so bright, so hot, so vital,” Novoselic said, according to the book Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana by Michael Azerrad.
After joining the group, Grohl lived with Cobain for a time. He also dated Jennifer Finch from the all-female alternative band L7 around this time. Soon the major labels became interested in Nirvana, offering contracts with large advances. They ended up signing with Geffen Records. Their first release with them, 1991’s Nevermind, became a huge hit, driven in part by the single, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” While Kurt handled most of the songwriting duties, all three band members had worked on this track, which combined elements of punk, metal, and pop.
The video for “Smells like Teen Spirit” - offering a subversive take on a pep rally - got heavy play on MTV. In nearly a year’s time, Nevermind sold more than 4 million copies. Nirvana, with raw, emotional sound, helped launch what was called the grunge movement, which often captured feelings of alienation and frustration. They paved the way for other bands, such as Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, to become well-known national acts.
The pressures that came with all of that success weighed heavily on the group, especially Cobain who sank deeper into drug abuse. Cobain’s relationship with singer Courtney Love also put a strain on band relationships. Outside of the band, Grohl put together a solo project, recording a few tracks for a cassette-only release called Pocketwatch.
The band made one more studio album together, In Utero (1994). Rolling Stone called it “brilliant, corrosive, enraged and thoughtful, most of them all at once.” While Cobain handled the lyrics, Novoselic and Grohl helped write the music for the track, “Scentless Apprentice.” Still Cobain was increasingly distant and became more depressed. He attempted suicide by taking a drug overdose in March 1994 in Rome while on a break during the band’s European tour. On April 6, 1994, Cobain killed himself at his home. After Cobain’s death, the remaining members of Nirvana won a Grammy Award for their live recording on MTV called Unplugged in New York (1994).
After Nirvana, Grohl formed the Foo Fighters. Initially, he was the entire band for its 1995 self-titled debut album, playing most of the instruments, singing the vocals, and using songs he had written while still with Nirvana. The recording earned positive reviews and spawned two modern rock hits, “This Is A Call” and “I’ll Stick Around,” as well as “Big Me,” which also did well on the top charts. When it came time to tour, Grohl brought along bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith (both formerly with Sunny Day Real Estate) and guitarist Pat Smear (who had been part of Nirvana’s final tour).
The first Foo Fighters album as a band, The Colour and the Shape, came out in 1997. By this time, Goldsmith had quit and was replaced by Taylor Hawkins. The album made it to the top ten of the album charts and featured such tracks as “Monkey Wrench,” “Everlong,” and “My Hero.” Repeating this feat with 1999’s There Is Nothing Left to Lose, the Foo Fighters won their first Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 2000. The album had one breakaway single in “Learn to Fly,” and the video for the song won the group their first Grammy Award in 2000 for Best Short Form Music Video.
By 2002, Chris Shiflett was the group’s lead guitarist. For a short time, Franz Stahl from Scream filled in for Smear after he had left the band. Their song, “All My Life” from One by One did well on the pop and rock charts and earned a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance that year. The next year the entire recording won for Best Rock Album.
In May 2006, Grohl sent a note of support to the two trapped miners in the Beaconsfield mine collapse in Tasmania, Australia. In the initial days following the collapse, one of the men requested an iPod with the Foo Fighters album In Your Honor, to be sent down to them through a small hole. Grohl's note read, in part, "Though I'm halfway around the world right now, my heart is with you both, and I want you to know that when you come home, there's two tickets to any Foos show, anywhere, and two cold beers waiting for yous. Deal?" In October 2006, one of the miners took up his offer, joining Grohl for a drink after a Foo Fighters acoustic concert at the Sydney Opera House.
Their album Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace, came out in the fall of 2007. “The band has taken everything it’s done best, from giddy power pop... to country-tinged musings... to wistful acoustic ballads... and brought it to the next level,” according to a review in Entertainment Weekly. The band went on an extensive tour to promote the record.
Over the years, Grohl has recorded with other bands, including Queens of the Stone Age and Tenacious D, but he continues to circle back to the Foo Fighters. The group has since released Wasting Light (2011), Sonic Highways (2014) and Concrete and Gold (2017), claiming a Best Rock Song Grammy in 2018 for "Run."
Grohl was raised a Catholic, but never seems to have taken it seriously. He has called music his religion.
Politics
Grohl is a Democrat. He supported President Barack Obama, and performed "My Hero" in September at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Views
Grohl has been vocal in his views on drug misuse, contributing to a 2009 anti-drug video for the BBC. "I have never done cocaine, ever in my life. I have never done heroin, I have never done speed," he said in a 2008 interview, adding that he stopped smoking cannabis and taking LSD at the age of 20. In the BBC video, he said, "I've seen people die. It ain't easy being young, but that stuff doesn't make it any easier".
Grohl is an advocate for LGBT rights. He has worn a White Knot ribbon to various events to promote whiteknot.org. When questioned about the knot, he responded, "You know what that's about? I believe in love and I believe in equality and I believe in marriage equality". Grohl's gay rights activism dates back to the early 1990s, when he and the other members of Nirvana performed at a benefit to raise money to fight Oregon Ballot Measure 9.
Personality
"Masturbation is one of the safest ways to explore your own sexuality."
"What's the last thing a drummer says in a band? "Hey guys, why don't we try one of my songs?"
"I'd like to imagine I won't end up in hell, but I think I've done too much acid and listened to too much death metal to sit on a cloud next to God with angels floating above my head."
Quotes from others about the person
Chris Martin: "Why doesn't Dave Grohl run for President? I think he'd be good, he seems a very organised man. He has about 12 fingers in about 50 pies, and they're all great pies, and great fingers. What I'm saying is that we really respect that band, and I fucking love him!"
Mark DiCarlo: "I love his voice (Dave) and the song writing is scary; it's phenomenal. He's the most inspirational guy out there for me now."
Interests
Music & Bands
Rock
Connections
Grohl is a devoted father and husband. He has been married to television producer Jordyn Blum since 2003. The couple welcomed their first child, a daughter named Violet, in 2006. They went on to have two more daughters, Harper (b. 2009) and Ophelia (b. 2014). He was previously married to photographer Jennifer Youngblood.
2001 - There Is Nothing Left to Lose - Best Rock Album;
2001 - "Learn to Fly" - Best Short Form Music Video;
2003 - "All My Life" - Best Hard Rock Performance;
2004 - One by One - Best Rock Album;
2008 - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace - Best Rock Album;
2008 - "The Pretender" - Best Hard Rock Performance;
2012 - Wasting Light - Best Rock Album;
2012 - "Walk" - Best Rock Performance;
2012 - "Walk" - Best Rock Song;
2012 - "White Limo" - Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance;
2012 - Foo Fighters: Back and Forth - Best Long Form Music Video;
2018 - "Run" - Best Rock Song.
2001 - There Is Nothing Left to Lose - Best Rock Album;
2001 - "Learn to Fly" - Best Short Form Music Video;
2003 - "All My Life" - Best Hard Rock Performance;
2004 - One by One - Best Rock Album;
2008 - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace - Best Rock Album;
2008 - "The Pretender" - Best Hard Rock Performance;
2012 - Wasting Light - Best Rock Album;
2012 - "Walk" - Best Rock Performance;
2012 - "Walk" - Best Rock Song;
2012 - "White Limo" - Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance;
2012 - Foo Fighters: Back and Forth - Best Long Form Music Video;
2014 - Best Rap Song - "Holy Grail";
2014 - Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media - "Sound City: Real to Reel";
2014 - Best Rock Song - "Cut Me Some Slack";
2016 - Best Music Film - "Sonic Highways".
2014 - Best Rap Song - "Holy Grail";
2014 - Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media - "Sound City: Real to Reel";
2008 - Best Album of the Year - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace;
2011 - Godlike Genius Award - Dave Grohl;
2012 - Best International Band - Foo Fighters;
2012 - Best Music Film - Back and Forth;
2015 - Best International Band - Foo Fighters;
2016 - Hero of the Year - Dave Grohl.
2008 - Best Album of the Year - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace;