Dave Grohl

Whoever said there are no second acts in American lives obviously never heard of Dave Grohl: the drummer who rose to international fame with Nirvana, only to reinvent himself, after the shocking suicide of bandmate Kurt Cobain, as the singer, guitarist and driving force behind Foo Fighters. But then, some older music fans might well argue that Nirvana was already a second act for Grohl, who was born David Eric Grohl on January 14, 1969, in Warren, Ohio, and then raised in Springfield, Virginia after his parents divorce. This proximity to the Washington, D.C. metro area determined Dave’s first foray into music via the city’s vibrant '80s hardcore scene. He dropped out of high school at 17 and joined the band Scream for what proved to be a four-year rock and roll apprenticeship behind the drum kit. And then, just as Scream’s underground career was running out of steam, Grohl landed an audition with a pre-fame Nirvana, joining the aforementioned Cobain and bass player Krist Novoselic just in time to contribute his talents to the trio’s watershed sophomore album, ‘Nevermind,’ and ride its remarkable sales to somewhat reluctant superstar status. This turn of events of course proved to be Cobain’s undoing, but it duly opened the door for Grohl to develop his songwriting and record the debut Foo Fighters’ 1995 album virtually single handedly, in part as a means of coping with his former bandmate’s tragic demise. 1997’s ‘The Colour and the Shape,’ catapulted the Foo Fighters (now fleshed out into a proper touring band) to yet another level of popularity, and paved the way for a string of best-selling albums, a feature length band documentary, ‘Back and Forth, in 2011, and sell-out tours that persist unto the present day. And when he wasn’t busy leading the Foos over the course of these releases, their numerous lineup changes, and other bumps in their road, Grohl eagerly took on side projects like the underground metal all-star collaboration, Probot, the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, and as an in demand session drummer with Queens of the Stone Age, Tenacious D and many others.

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