Dave Grohl on the “fearlessness” of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page is the guitarist’s guitarist. Responsible for some of the most memorable riffs of the 1970s rock boom, the session guitarist turned rock deity spearheaded one of the mightiest bands of the era, the great Led Zeppelin. His virtuosic guitar playing and potent performance style have provided a model for countless aspiring guitarists over the years, including Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl.
Grohl rose to fame as the drummer of Nirvana. Following the tragic death of his bandmate Kurt Cobain, Dave stepped into the limelight to front Foo Fighters, who, from 1994 onwards, released a slew of fuzz-laden albums like The Colour and The Shape, There Is Nothing Left to Lose and One by One, cementing their reputation with such singles as ‘Everlong’, ‘Learn to Fly’ and ‘Pretender’.
By 2018 Grohl was one of the most influential mainstream rock musicians on the planet. That same year, he sat down with GQ for a career retrospective covering everything from Nirvana’s formation to his favourite guitarists. During the conversation, he discussed his respect for Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page: “I love the way that he was always teetering on the edge of total chaos,” he began, “But he knew how to place every note in a space that really drew emotion.”
Elaborating, the frontman said: “So, when you watch a movie like The Song Remains the Same, or any live footage from 1971 or 1973, or 1975, and even the earlier stuff, he’s just going for it. It’s that sort of fearlessness that I respect most in musicians, not perfection or any sort of clean technical proficiency.”
Page’s genius was his ability to fill every gap on the sonic canvas, suffusing songs like ‘Kashmir’ and ‘Whole Lotta Love’ with an orchestral expansiveness. While an adept musician, Page rarely exhibited Eric Clapton’s emphasis on precision over passion. Though Page rarely missed a note, it often felt like he was driving a wagon with a wonky wheel at 100mph. “I really like to see musicians right on the edge of falling apart,” Grohl said. “He did that in the most beautiful way.”
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