Dave Grohl: With 50 he has achieved everything, but not enough
Long shaggy hair, intoxicated beard, mostly wearing a flannel shirt and always a smile on his face: that's how we know Dave Grohl, frontman of the Foo Fighters and former drummer of the grunge legend Nirvana. On January 14th, the "nicest rock star in the world" celebrates his 50th birthday. An image with which he can not do so much himself.
"The only thing I can say is that I strive to treat everyone with decency and respect, simply because I was raised that way," Grohl once told the magazine "Gitarre & Bass" about his image , Nevertheless: Hardly any other musician is so near, is so popular and gets on well with everyone, like Grohl. However, it is not self-evident that the 50-year-old has remained so grounded in view of his extremely successful career to this day ...
The sound of a whole generation
Born in Springfield, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., Grohl plays drums as a teenager in various punk bands. His first major project is the band Scream. With her, he records two albums and even goes on tour in Europe. Then the big coup: After the dissolution of Scream rises in the grunge band Nirvana. In 1991 he recorded the legendary and groundbreaking album "Nevermind" with Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) and Krist Novoselic (53). The drum-opener in "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is still unforgotten today.
With Nirvana, Grohl joins the rock Olymp and delivers the soundtrack for a whole generation. "Nevermind" has sold over 30 million copies to date and is considered one of the most important albums in music history. After "In Utero" in 1993, the MTV Unplugged album is recorded in New York in November. On April 5, 1994 Cobain takes his own life. The unplugged album will be released seven months later. The music magazine Rolling Stone voted it in 2012 at 313 of the 500 best albums of all time.
From the drummer to the frontman
Already during his time with Nirvana Grohl wants to write his own songs. Under the pseudonym "Late!" He records the cassette "Pocketwatch" on which he recorded all the instruments himself. After the death of Cobain Grohl decides to record his own songs. When everything is ready, but he rather wants to start a band - the birth of the Foo Fighters. In July 1995 her self-titled debut will be released.
But the nice, likeable Grohl can also be different. This must be experienced by William Goldsmith, 46, first drummer of the Foo Fighters. After Goldsmith has recorded his drum parts for the second album "The Color and the Shape", Grohl sends him home. In Goldsmith's absence Grohl records all parts completely without saying a word to him. Goldsmith can not get over it today. In an interview with the British tabloid newspaper "Daily Mail," he even goes as far as comparing Grohl to a "schoolyard tyrant."
The reputation of a - at least musical - Despot he has not gotten rid of until today. But Grohl seems to have become a bit more relaxed with age and does not tire of emphasizing that the Foo Fighters is a democratic band and everyone is contributing. But most of the material he still writes alone.
No limits
The creative output of Dave Grohl is remarkable even off the Foo Fighters. Again and again he can be heard on albums of friendly bands. He is also a member of Queens of the Stone Age, with whom he records "Songs for the Deaf". With his Probot project he briefly gathers the entire metal and rock celebrities around him and for the Nine Inch Nails he is briefly in action.
As a drummer Grohl is working together with Josh Homme (45) of Queens of the Stone Age and John Paul Jones (73) of Led Zeppelin in the side project Them Crooked Vultures. For Hollywood actress Juliette Lewis (45) he plays on some songs on the album "Four on the Floor" by Juliette and the Licks. And that's just a small excerpt from the work of Dave Grohl. Because of his striking game, he is listed in 2016 by Rolling Stone on rank 27 of the 100 best drummers of all time.
Next, on and on
Grohl has basically achieved everything. He has written Nirvana music history. With the Foo Fighters won a total of twelve Grammys, played in front of 86,000 spectators in London's Wembley Stadium in 2008, millions of records sold and the headliner slots at festivals worldwide are safe.
Nevertheless, Grohl, who has been married since 2003 and has three children, continues. And there is no end in sight, as he has told "Gitarre & Bass": "I always had the feeling that there is still life in this band, it still produces great songs and live is a real power, so why we stop and part with something so wonderful? "
