The singer that blew Dave Grohl “away” during a collaboration
Very few modern rock stars can claim to have had such a dramatic impact on current alt-rock trends as Dave Grohl. Not only has he helped shape the influential sounds of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, but through unfettered admiration for fellow stars and friendly collaborations with legendary musicians, he has helped to ensure that the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll prevails deep into the 21st century.
Among Grohl’s famous friends is Paul McCartney. The pair first met in 2001 at the Royal Albert Hall after Dhani Harrison asked Grohl to perform at the Concert For George, a tribute to his late father, George Harrison. Since then, Grohl and McCartney have maintained a solid friendship and have shared the stage on several occasions.
In undeniably one of the peaks of Grohl’s career, McCartney inducted Foo Fighters into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021, after which he joined the band for a celebratory performance. In return for the honour, McCartney invited Grohl on stage for a rendition of ‘Band on the Run’ the following year during his performance at Glastonbury Festival.
Grohl’s career has been positively festooned with pinch-me moments. Another of his biggest heroes was the late Prince, who covered ‘Best of You’ at the 2007 Super Bowl. “All of those years spent in my bedroom practising alone to Beatles records, sleeping in cold, infested squats on winter fan tours across Europe, battering my drums until my hands literally bled… it all paid off in this moment,” he wrote in Dave’s True Stories. The pair subsequently jammed to Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ at an empty LA Forum.
When Grohl isn’t mingling with some of the biggest pop stars of the 20th century, he operates within his more associative realms of post-punk and alt-rock. Even here, he has had a few giddying liaisons, including that with Bob Mould, the frontman of Minnesota hardcore punk outfit Hüsker Dü. Though the band never achieved fame on the level of Nirvana or Foo Fighters, they are a cult act with a devoted fanbase to which Grohl is a party.
Grohl became an avid Hüsker Dü fan during his pre-fame years in the early 1980s. “I was a huge fan of Hüsker Dü. Their album Zen Arcade is one of the most underrated American rock ‘n’ roll records of all time. And only recently did I realise how much I’ve ripped Bob off for the last 16 years,” Grohl admitted in a 2011 interview with Mojo.” I met [Bob Mould] for the first time last summer and said, ‘You know that I’d be nowhere and nobody without your music, right’ and he very politely nodded and said: ‘I know.'”
The pair became well acquainted, and Grohl floated the idea of collaborating one day. “We swapped phone numbers and became friends,” he added. “I had this song that I imagined would be a duet between us, and he obliged. What an honour to have that sort of moment with one of your heroes.”
The song in question was ‘Dear Rosemary’, which Foo Fighters recorded for the 2011 album Wasting Light. Grohl wrote the dark, brooding track with a vocal collaboration in mind and couldn’t believe his luck when he managed to swing studio time with Mould. Even with his legendary status at the time, Grohl had butterflies in his stomach. “When you first meet someone you’ve idolised your whole life, you’re just nervous,” he said. “That’s how I felt with Bob. You don’t want to come off feeling like an awkward superfan, but it’s inevitable. But then those first impressions wear off, and you realise he’s just a nice person.”
In 2011, Foo Fighters released Back and Forth, a documentary which followed the group’s writing and recording process as they worked on Wasting Light with producer Butch Vig. In a clip from the documentary, Mould can be seen behind the glass recording his vocals for ‘Dear Rosemary’. “When you meet someone that helped you become the musician that you are, I think it’s really important to acknowledge that,” Grohl says in the commentary. “Bob’s voice is so signature, and to have him come to my fucking house and do it on my fucking record… it blows me away!”
