| Name | Dave Grohl |
|---|
| Background | solo_singer |
|---|
| Birth name | David Eric Grohl |
|---|
| Alias | Late (pseudonym used by Grohl for his solo album Pocketwatch), Probot (moniker used by Grohl for his heavy metal "all-stars" album of the same name) |
|---|
| Born | January 14, 1969Warren, Ohio United States |
|---|
| Genre | Alternative rock, post-grunge, grunge, hardcore punk, heavy metal |
|---|
| Occupation | Musician, songwriter |
|---|
| Years active | 1985-present |
|---|
| Instrument | Vocals, drums, guitar, piano, bass, percussions |
|---|
| Label | RCA, Capitol, Geffen, Dischord |
|---|
| Associated acts | Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Scream, Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Tenacious D, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Probot, Killing Joke |
|---|
| Notable instruments | Gibson DG-335Gibson ES-335Gibson FirebirdGibson ExplorerAmpeg Dan Armstrong DW Jazz SeriesZildjian cymbals |
|---|
David Eric "Dave" Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American
rock musician,
multi-instrumentalist, and
singer-songwriter best known as the
lead vocalist,
rhythm guitarist, and primary songwriter for the
Foo Fighters; the former
drummer for
Nirvana; the drummer for bands
Them Crooked Vultures and
Scream; and for his short-lived side projects Late! and
Probot. He has also been involved with
Queens of the Stone Age, and has performed session work for a variety of musicians, including
Killing Joke,
Tenacious D,
Nine Inch Nails,
The Prodigy,
Slash and
Juliette Lewis.
Early life
As a child, his family (father Jim Grohl, mother Virginia Wendt, and older sister Lisa) relocated from
Warren, Ohio, to
Springfield, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Three years later, when Grohl was six, his parents divorced, and Grohl grew up living with his mother. His early influences also involved tutorials in drumming from "Treasures of the Earth" drummer Timothy Aldridge.
At the age of twelve, Grohl began learning to play guitar. He quickly grew tired of lessons and instead became self-taught, honing his ability by playing in bands with friends. Soon he became guitarist for the punk rock band Midtown. A year later in 1982, 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. "From then on we were totally punk," Grohl explained. "We went home and bought Maximumrocknroll and tried to figure it all out." Mission Impossible later rebranded themselves Fast before breaking up, after which Grohl joined the post-punk-influenced hardcore punk band Dain Bramage.
Many of Grohl's early influences were gained at the 9:30 club, a live music venue in Washington D.C.; 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." An amusing anecdote of that period at the 9:30 club comes from Urban Verbs singer Roddy Frantz: "Henry Rollins used to sneak in through the back door. Our roadie would let him in because he knew him from high school. He let Dave Grohl in, too, when he was some 15-year-old kid. I would've been nicer to him if I knew who he was going to be." To Grohl's surprise, the band asked him to join. After waffling for a brief period, Grohl accepted the offer. Grohl dropped out of high school in his junior year; he said, "I was seventeen and extremely anxious to see the world, so I did it." Over the next four years, Grohl toured extensively with the band, recording a couple of live albums and two studio albums, No More Censorship and Fumble, on which Grohl penned and sang vocals on the song "Gods Look Down".
While playing in Scream, Grohl became a fan of The Melvins and eventually befriended the band. During a 1990 tour stop on the west coast, The Melvins' Buzz Osborne took a couple of his friends, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, to see the band.
Nirvana
A few months later, Scream unexpectedly disbanded following the departure of its bass player, and Grohl placed a phone call to Osborne for advice. Knowing how much
Kurt Cobain and
Krist Novoselic liked Grohl's drumming, Osborne gave Novoselic's phone number to Grohl. Novoselic invited Grohl to Seattle, where Grohl attended Nirvana's infamous show at the Motor Sports Garage, the one Nirvana show that featured
Dan Peters on drums. (Grohl admitted to
Rolling Stone magazine in 2005 that he spent most of Nirvana's set outside talking to a friend.) Grohl subsequently auditioned for the band, and soon joined them full-time.
At the time that Grohl joined Nirvana, the band had already recorded several demos for what would be the follow-up to their debut album Bleach, having spent time recording with producer Butch Vig in Wisconsin. Initially, the plans were to release the album on Sub Pop, but the band found itself receiving a great deal of major label interest based on the demos. Grohl spent the initial months with Nirvana traveling to various major labels as the band shopped for a deal, eventually signing with DGC Records. In the spring of 1991, the band entered the studio to record the album.
Upon its release, Nevermind exceeded all expectations and became a massive success, catapulting the band to worldwide stardom. At the same time, Grohl found himself fighting with his status in the band. While his drumming style was a significant element in the band's success, Grohl saw himself as just another in a long line of drummers. In his mind, Nirvana was the band that recorded Bleach; his arrival had altered that sound dramatically, and, as he saw it, not necessarily in a positive way. Though Grohl had been writing songs for several years, he declined to introduce his songs to the band for fear of damaging the band's chemistry. Instead, Grohl compiled his songs and recorded them himself, releasing a cassette called Pocketwatch in 1992 on indie label Simple Machines. Rather than using his own name, Grohl released the cassette under the pseudonym "Late!".
In the later years of Nirvana, Grohl's songwriting contributions increased. In Grohl's initial months in Seattle, Cobain overheard him working on a song called "Color Pictures of a Marigold", and the two ended up jamming on it. Grohl would later record the song for the Pocketwatch cassette. During the sessions for In Utero, he decided to re-record the song, and the band released this version as a b-side on the "Heart-Shaped Box" single, titled simply "Marigold". Earlier, as the band worked on new material for In Utero, Grohl contributed the main guitar riff for what ended up becoming "Scentless Apprentice". Cobain conceded in a late 1993 MTV interview 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 set With the Lights Out). Cobain noted that he was excited at the possibility of having Novoselic and Grohl contribute more to the band's songwriting.
Prior to their 1994 European tour, the band decided to schedule session time at Robert 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. The duo completed several of Grohl's songs, including future Foo Fighters songs "Exhausted", "Big Me", "February Stars", and "Butterflies". On the third day of the session, Cobain finally arrived, and the band recorded a demo of a song later named "You Know You're Right". It was the band's final studio recording.
Foo Fighters
Following Cobain's death in April 1994, Grohl retreated, unsure of where to go and what to do with himself. In October 1994, Grohl scheduled studio time, again at Robert Lang's Studio, and quickly recorded a fifteen-track demo. With the exception of a single guitar part on "X-Static" played by
Greg Dulli of the
Afghan Whigs, Grohl performed all of the instruments himself.
At the same time, Grohl wondered if his future might be in drumming for other bands. In November, Grohl took a brief turn with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, including a memorable performance on Saturday Night Live. Petty asked him to join permanently, but Grohl realized that his future lay elsewhere, and thus he declined the invitation. Grohl's name was also rumored as a possible replacement for Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzzese, and Grohl even 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 drummer, Jack Irons, and Grohl had other solo plans in the works.
After passing the demo around, Grohl found himself with considerable major label interest. Nirvana's A&R; rep Gary Gersh had subsequently taken over as president of Capitol Records and lured Grohl to sign with the label. Grohl did not want the effort to be considered the start of a solo career so he recruited other band members: former Nirvana touring guitarist Pat Smear, and two members of the band Sunny Day Real Estate, William Goldsmith (drums) and Nate Mendel (bass). Rather than re-record the album, Grohl's demo was given a professional mix by Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock and was released in July 1995 as Foo Fighters' debut album.
During a break between tours, the band entered the studio and recorded a cover of Gary Numan's "Down in the Park". In February 1996, Grohl and his then-wife Jennifer Youngblood made a brief cameo appearance on the X-Files third season episode "Pusher". (The two can be spotted walking in the FBI building, just after the Pusher character has put on his phony pass. Grohl pauses to look at his watch.)
After touring for the self-titled album for more than a year, Grohl returned home and began work on the soundtrack to the 1997 movie Touch. Grohl performed all of the instruments and vocals himself, save for vocals from Veruca Salt singer Louise Post on the title track, and vocals and guitar by X's John 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.
In the midst of the initial sessions for Foo Fighters' second album, tension emerged between Grohl and Goldsmith. According to Goldsmith, "Dave had me do 96 takes of one song, and I had to do thirteen 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 producer Gil Norton wanted Grohl to drum on the album. With the album seemingly complete, Grohl headed home to Virginia with a copy of the rough mixes, and found himself unhappy with the results. Grohl penned a few new songs, recording one of them, "Walking After You", by himself at a studio in Washington, DC. Inspired by the session, Grohl opted to move the band, without Goldsmith's knowledge,
On November 23, 2002, Grohl achieved a unique historical milestone by replacing himself on the top of the Billboard Modern 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 album In 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, dubbed Studio 606, located in a warehouse near Los Angeles. Featuring collaborations with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Norah Jones, the album was a departure from previous efforts, and included one rock and one acoustic disc.
Foo Fighters's sixth studio album Echoes, 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", June 24, 2008.
On November 2, 2009 Foo Fighters released their first Greatest 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 by Nevermind's producer Butch Vig. Grohl has been quoted saying the Greatest Hits is too early and "...can look like an obituary." He does not feel they have written their best hits yet.
The last minute Foo Fighters show at Paladino's in Tarzana, California on Wednesday night (December 22) was being shot for a documentary. Not only was new material from the band's forthcoming album aired, but for the encore, the remaining members of Nirvana played together for the second time since the death of Kurt Cobain.
Grohl behind the drum kit, was joined onstage by bassist Krist Novoselic and the band's live guitarist Pat Smear for a version of the 1993 Nirvana b-side 'Marigold', one of the few Nirvana tracks Grohl had actually done vocals for.
Other projects
Apart from his main bands, Grohl has been involved in other music projects. In 1992, Grohl played drums on
Buzz Osborne's
Kiss-styled solo-EP
King Buzzo, where he was credited as
Dale Nixon, a pseudonym that
Greg Ginn adopted to play bass on
Black Flag's My War. Grohl also released the music cassette
Pocketwatch under the pseudonym
Late! on the now defunct indie label,
Simple Machines.
In 1993, Grohl was recruited to help recreate the music of The Beatles' early years for the movie Backbeat. Grohl played drums in an "all-star" lineup that included Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs, indie producer Don Fleming, Mike Mills of R.E.M., Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum. A music video was filmed for the song "Money (That's What I Want)" while Grohl was with Nirvana on their 1994 European tour, footage of Grohl was filmed later and included.
Later in 1994, Grohl played drums on two tracks for Mike Watt's Ball-Hog or Tugboat?. In early 1995, Grohl and Foo Fighters played their first US tour opening for Watt, and helped make up Watt's supporting band. Nicknamed the "Ringspiel" tour, Watt's band featured Grohl and William Goldsmith on drums, Eddie Vedder and Pat Smear on guitar, and Watt on bass.
During the early 2000s, Grohl spent time in his basement studio writing and recording a number of songs for a "metal" project. Over the span of several years, Grohl recruited his favorite metal vocalists from the 1980s, including Lemmy of Motörhead, Conrad "Cronos" Lant from Venom, King Diamond, Scott Weinrich, and Max Cavalera of Sepultura, to perform the vocals for the songs. The project was released in 2004 under the moniker Probot.
Also in 2003, Grohl stepped behind the kit to perform on Killing Joke's second self-titled album. The move surprised some Nirvana fans, given that Nirvana had been accused of stealing the opening riff of "Come as You Are" from Killing Joke's 1984 song "Eighties". 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 even joined by Killing Joke singer Jaz Coleman for a performance of the song at a show in New Zealand in 2003.
Grohl lent his drumming skills to other artists during the early 2000s. In 2000, Dave played drums and sang on a track, "Goodbye Lament", from Tony Iommi's album Iommi. In 2001, Grohl performed on Tenacious D's debut album, and appeared in the video for lead single "Tribute" as Satan. He later appeared in the duo's 2006 movie Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny as Beelzeboss and performed on its soundtrack. In 2002, Grohl helped Chan Marshall of Cat Power on the album You Are Free and also played with Queens of the Stone Age on their album Songs for the Deaf. In 2004, Grohl drummed on several tracks for Nine Inch Nails' 2005 album With Teeth. He also drummed on the song "Bad Boyfriend" on Garbage's 2005 album Bleed Like Me. Most recently, he recorded all the drums on Juliette and the Licks's 2006 album Four on the Floor and the song "For Us" from Pete Yorn's 2006 album Nightcrawler. Beyond drumming, Grohl contributed guitar to a cover of Neil Young's "I've Been Waiting For You" on David Bowie's 2002 album Heathen.
In June 2008, Grohl was Paul McCartney's special guest for a concert at the Anfield football stadium in Liverpool, in one of the central events of the English city's year as European Capital of Culture. Grohl joined McCartney's band singing backup vocals and playing guitar on "Band on the Run" and drums on "Back in the U.S.S.R." and "I Saw Her Standing There". Grohl also performed with McCartney at the 51st Grammy Awards, again playing drums on "I Saw Her Standing There".
Grohl played drums on the tracks 'Run With The Wolves' and 'Stand Up' on The Prodigy's 2009 album Invaders Must Die.
In July 2009, it was revealed that Grohl was recording with Josh Homme and John Paul Jones as Them Crooked Vultures. The trio performed their first show together on August 9, 2009 at Metro in Chicago. The band played their first UK gig on August 26, 2009, with a surprise appearance at Brixton Academy in London, supporting the Arctic Monkeys. The band released their debut album Them Crooked Vultures on November 16, 2009 in the UK and November 17, 2009 in the US. Grohl has recently been involved in producing emerging Brit-rock outift A Band Called Bert, notably on the track It's Over Now.
On February 6, 2010, Grohl performed with his band Them Crooked Vultures the songs "Mind Eraser, No Chaser" and "New Fang" as musical guests on Saturday Night Live. Dave Grohl appeared as an old punk rock drummer reuniting the group "Crisis of Conformity" after 25 years in a skit later on in the episode.
On October 23, 2010, Grohl performed with Tenacious D at Blizzcon. He appeared as the drummer for the entire concert.
Grohl played drums on the Michael Jackson song (I Can't Make It) Another Day which also featured Lenny Kravitz, recorded in 2001. The track appeared on the 2010 posthumous album, Michael.
Grohl has been confirmed to have a cameo role as himself in the upcoming Muppets film, drumming for the Muppets band while Animal is in anger management.
In December 2010, Grohl performed "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney at the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors in honor of award recipient Paul McCartney.
Personal life
Grohl has been married twice. He was first married to
photographer Jennifer Youngblood from 1993 to 1997.
After their divorce, Grohl had relationships with
Louise Post from
Veruca Salt, solo artist and
Hole bassist
Melissa Auf Der Maur, and pro-snowboarder
Tina Basich.
He then went on to marry his second wife, Jordyn Blum on August 2, 2003, at their home in Los Angeles. Guests included Clive Davis, Jack Black, and former Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic. On April 15, 2006, Grohl and his wife welcomed their first child, daughter Violet Maye, in Los Angeles. She was named after Grohl's maternal grandmother. Earlier that year, Foo Fighters bandmate Taylor Hawkins told MTV, "We're going to be touring Europe in January and February, but we've got to be home by March, because Dave and his wife are having a baby," he said, adding, "but I probably wasn't supposed to tell you that." Grohl said that he had been playing music to his unborn child, saying "she 'likes' The Beatles. Doesn't really get down to The Beach Boys. Digs Mozart." On April 17, 2009, Grohl and his wife welcomed their second child, daughter Harper Willow.
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 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 Foo Fighters acoustic concert at the Sydney Opera House. Grohl wrote an instrumental piece for the meeting, which Grohl pledged he would include on the band's next album. The song, titled "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners," appears on Foo Fighters' latest release Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and features Kaki King.
In August 2009 Grohl was given the key to the city of Warren, Ohio 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.
DUI in Australia
On January 23, 2000, while on tour with
Foo Fighters in Australia, Grohl was arrested by Australian police for
driving under the influence following a concert on the
Gold Coast in Queensland. Grohl was pulled over on his
moped, breathalyzed and recorded a blood alcohol level of 0.09 (The legal limit in Queensland is 0.05). He was fined $400 and had his Australian driving permit revoked for three months. Following the incident Grohl stated: "So, people, I guess if there's anything to learn here, it's: don't drive after a few beers, even if you feel entirely capable like I did."
Discography
;Nirvana
Nevermind (1991)
Incesticide (1992)
In Utero (1993)
MTV Unplugged in New York (1994)
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah (1996)
Nirvana (2002)
With the Lights Out (2004)
(2005)
Live at Reading (2009)
;Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters (1995)
The Colour and the Shape (1997)
There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999)
One by One (2002)
In Your Honor (2005)
Skin and Bones (2006)
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007)
;Queens of the Stone Age
Songs for the Deaf (2002)
;Them Crooked Vultures
Them Crooked Vultures (2009)
;Solo
Pocketwatch (1992) (released under the pseudonym "Late!")
References
External links
Foo Fighters official website
Live Review at ArtistDirect.com
Category:1969 births
Category:1980s singers
Category:1990s singers
Category:2000s singers
Category:2010s singers
Category:American male singers
Category:American multi-instrumentalists
Category:American music video directors
Category:American rock drummers
Category:American rock guitarists
Category:American rock singer-songwriters
Category:Backing vocalists
Category:Foo Fighters members
Category:Grunge musicians
Category:Killing Joke members
Category:Musicians from Ohio
Category:Musicians from Virginia
Category:Nirvana members
Category:People from Fairfax County, Virginia
Category:People from Warren, Ohio
Category:Queens of the Stone Age members
Category:Scream members
Category:Living people
.jpg)
