Dave GROHL Biography

Dave Grohl, born January, 14, 1969, is considered by many to be one of the greatest rock and roll drummers, but recently he has also made a name for himself as a lead singer and guitarist in the post-grunge era of popular music. Grohl began playing drums in punk bands in the 1980s, starting with Freak Baby, which became Mission Impossible and later changed again to Fast. After Fast broke up, Grohl joined the band Dain Bramage, and soon after he auditioned for Scream. At age 16, Grohl became the drummer for Scream, and the band soon began touring throughout the U.S. in 1987 and later in Europe.

Then came Nirvana. Kurt Cobain--lead guitarist, songwriter, and singer--and Krist Novoselic--bass player--saw Grohl drumming for Scream and were so blown away that they asked him to join the band in 1990. Nirvana had already released their first album, Bleach (on which Dale Crover and Chad Channing played drums), in 1989 and soon set to work with Grohl on their follow-up album, which would be called Nevermind.

Nevermind was released on September, 24, 1991, raged to the top of the charts, and wreaked havoc on the popular music scene. Hard-hitting, yet melodic, Nevermind led the charge for grunge and "alternative" music, which also included the bands Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains. Grohl's bashing backbeats and raucous rolls with a Ringo Starr-esque touch helped elevate Nirvana as the most important rock band of the '90s.

Incesticide, a collection of B-sides and demos, followed Nevermind, with Grohl playing drums on 6 of the 15 cuts. Then came In Utero, released on September 21, 1993, and widely considered to be Nirvana's masterpiece. Unfortunately, 7 months later, Cobain killed himself, and Nirvana was done. MTV Unplugged In New York, recorded on November 18, 1993, was released after Cobain's death in the fall of 1994.

Prior to the death of Cobain and Nirvana, Grohl had been working on some music of his own. However, he was so broken up about Cobain's death that he almost quit playing music entirely. Nonetheless, Grohl persevered with the help of friends and continued making what would be the first Foo Fighers album.

Grohl played all the instruments (he has played guitar since age 10) on the album--which was called Foo Fighters and was released on July 4, 1995--except for Greg Dulli's (the lead singer of Afghan Whigs) guitar part on the song "X-Static." Grohl wanted to tour to support the album, but he had no band. He soon found the pieces, though: Pat Smear, who had joined Nirvana as its second guitarist, and former Sunny Day Real Estate members Nate Mendel (bass) and William Goldsmith (drums). Grohl emerged--or rather, burst--from the behind the drum kit to play guitar and sing for Foo Fighters.