Dave Grohl Goes Black Metal on Cover of Lisa Loeb’s ‘Stay (I Missed You)’ for ‘Hanukkah Sessions’
Foo Fighters legend Dave Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin are back with the 'Hanukkah Sessions' and, to kick off the 2021 installment, the two have unleashed a cover of singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb's enduring hit, "Stay (I Missed You)," which violently seesaws between twinkling moments close to the original and outbursts of black and death metal.
In celebration of the Hanukkah holiday, Grohl and Kurstin partnered up last year for what now appears to have been the first in an annual song series in which they cover songs made famous by artists of the Jewish faith.
"Welcome back to the menorah, y’all. Let’s kick it this year’s Hanukkah sessions with one of Dallas, Texas’s favorite Jewish daughters. So put on your coffee shop spectacles and your Betsey Johnson dress and HAVA listen to this…"Stay” by [Lisa Loeb]," wrote Foo Fighters on social media.
"Stay (I Missed You)" was released in 1994 and was prominently featured in the film Reality Bites. It soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which made Loeb the first artist without a recording contract to reach that milestone.
For their cover version (see the music video below), Grohl and Kurstin lightly recreate the setting from Loeb's original music video for "Stay," as they mosey about an apartment. At first, Grohl is outfitted in a floral print dress and adopted the angelic croon of Loeb, but all Hell breaks loose when the video cuts to a distorted closeup of Grohl and the music transitions from airy and whimsical to nightmarish and riddled with blast beats.
For the guy who once joked that the Foos could "turn into a death metal band" if they felt like it and mocked death growls onstage during a festival performance, it's rather unsurprising to hear Grohl return to this elusive muse of his. Not to mention the collaborative Probot project Grohl spearheaded in 2004, which found him working with a handful of early innovators within the extreme metal scene.
Expect more to come this week as Grohl and Kurstin count down the eight days of Hanukkah with this unique song session.