Dave Grohl names his favourite drummer of all time
From the moment he burst onto the scene with Nirvana in the early 1990s, Dave Grohl has been considered one of the greatest drummers of all time. Fusing the visceral energy of hardcore punk with a technical ability akin to greats such as Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, across his career, Grohl has demonstrated why he is so revered with a range of diverse projects. This deserved standing in the pantheon of drumming greats begs one critical question: who is Dave Grohl’s favourite drummer of all time?
One drummer Grohl is often compared to, via their technical prowess and primal ferocity, is Neil Peart of Rush. Unsurprisingly, the Canadian drummer was a musician from whom Grohl took many of his cues. After Peart passed away in January 2020, Foo Fighters’ head honcho took the opportunity to reflect on his brilliance. He labelled Peart “an inspiration” before outlining how listening to Rush’s ‘2112’ changed his life.
Grohl led the tributes to Peart, saying: “An inspiration to millions with an unmistakable sound who spawned generations of musicians (like myself) to pick up two sticks and chase a dream. A kind, thoughtful, brilliant man who ruled our radios and turntables not only with his drumming but also his beautiful words.”
He concluded: “I still vividly remember my first listen of ‘2112′ when I was young. It was the first time I really listened to a drummer. And since that day, music has never been the same. His power, precision, and composition was incomparable. He was called ‘The Professor’ for a reason: we all learned from him.”
The Beatles’ often overlooked and sometimes even maligned drummer, Ringo Starr, is another artist that Dave Grohl has effused about multiple times. As The Beatles were the band that first made Grohl fall in love with music, he has a special place in his heart for Starr and his distinctive style. “Define ‘best drummer in the world’,” Grohl said in a tribute video for Starr’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame presentation, “Is it someone that’s technically proficient? Or is it someone that sits in the song with their own feel? Ringo was the king of feel.”
Elsewhere, in 2019, Grohl and Starr held a joint interview with Rolling Stone for their ‘Musicians on Musicians’ series. Further detailing Starr’s monumental impact on his own style, the former Nirvana drummer said: “I think that the sign of a great drummer is knowing who that drummer is within eight bars of the song. I think that’s the goal. I think a lot of it has to do with being self-taught because you were just doing what came naturally to you, so you weren’t restricted by any of that stuff”.
He continued: “To this day, when we’re in the studio — I’m sure every band in the world, if they want that fill — they say, ‘Hey, do a Ringo thing right there.'” Taken aback at such glowing praise, Starr replied earnestly, “Well, that’s high praise coming from you, Dave.”
At other points in Grohl’s life, he has waxed lyrical about drummers such as The Police’s Stewart Copeland and Meg White of The White Stripes. However, one drummer pips all of them to the crown of being his favourite of all time; John Bonham.
The Led Zeppelin drummer is another figure to whom Dave Grohl has been linked on many occasions, with their thunderous rhythms closely aligned. Even Nirvana’s late frontman, Kurt Cobain, once compared the pair during an interview. Just like Grohl, Bonham was never one to overplay; he always served the song. From his classic performance on ‘Moby Dick’ to more unadulterated cuts such as ‘Rock and Roll’, an extensive body of evidence confirms why Bonham is widely deemed the ultimate rock drummer of all time.
Grohl has called Bonham the “greatest” to pick up the sticks multiple times. “John Bonham is the greatest rock drummer of all time,” Grohl said definitively in a piece in Mojo. “Bonham played directly from the heart. His drumming was by no means perfect, but when he hit a groove, it was so deep it was like a heartbeat. He had this manic sense of cacophony, but he also had the ultimate feel. He could swing, he could get on top, or he could pull back.”
Grohl then explained that listening to Bonham “changed everything”. Detailing further, Grohl said: “Led Zeppelin, and John Bonham’s drumming especially, opened up my ears. I didn’t truly discover Led Zeppelin until I was 16. I was into hardcore punk rock; reckless, powerful drumming, a beat that sounded like a shotgun firing in a cement cellar. But when CDs first came out in the ’80s, the first one I listened to was Houses Of The Holy. It changed everything. I played that CD thousands of times. I listened so hard I could hear the kick drum pedal squeaking!”
Grohl has also said elsewhere: “I learned to play by ear. I wasn’t trained, and I can’t read music. What I play comes straight from the soul – and that’s what I hear in John Bonham’s drumming. I’ve watched Bonzo on the Led Zeppelin DVD, and it looks like the film has been speeded up because he’s playing so fast. I don’t know anyone who thinks there’s a better rock drummer than John Bonham: it’s undeniable!”
Not done there, Dave Grohl believes Bonham’s solo on ‘Moby Dick’ from 1969’s Led Zeppelin II is the greatest of all time. He declared: “What can I say? Fucking ‘Moby Dick’, man! You’ll never find another drummer willing to play a solo with his bare hands. I’ve tried, and it hurts. You’d have to drink a bottle of vodka just to think about doing that. Drum solos are usually just wank, crap, but the one in ‘Moby Dick’ is the greatest drum solo of all time.”
Case closed.
