“See ya later”: The band Dave Grohl would pause Foo Fighters to play with
To say that Dave Grohl has done well for himself within the music industry would be a colossal understatement. From his early days as the drummer of grunge icons Nirvana to his many years fronting Foo Fighters, Grohl has become a defining figure of modern American rock, amassing legions of dedicated fans in the process. At his core, however, the frontman is still just another rock superfan, and the lure of one band in particular would be enough for him to abandon his hugely successful career in a heartbeat.
Grohl has never shied away from discussing his broad range of influences. You might expect someone like him, who first established himself within the defiant grunge movement, to be a punk obsessive, but his record collection has always been broader than that. Incorporating everything from the new wave mastery of The B-52’s to the timeless sounds of The Beatles, Grohl has immersed himself in a diverse range of tunes going back to his earliest years. Throughout it all, though, the frontman has always held an adoration for the titans of classic rock, Led Zeppelin.
It would be easier to list the rock musicians who do not cite Led Zeppelin as an influence rather than those who do. Jimmy Page’s outfit paved the way for the complex and abrasive sounds of hard rock, inspiring the development of later styles of rock and heavy metal in the process. Of course, Page is among the greatest rock guitarists of all time, but the appeal of Zeppelin comes from the fact that it was four musicians operating at their absolute peak, with drummer John Bonham particularly influential on Grohl.
In fact, Grohl has cited Bonham as the predominant influence on his drumming style, once telling Melody Maker, “Led Zeppelin completely moulded the way I play the drums. No one can deny that band anything. All their albums are great.” Even when the former Nirvana drummer switched his sticks for a guitar during the early days of Foo Fighters, Zeppelin continued to be an unavoidable influence on his output.
So, when Led Zeppelin announced that they would be reuniting for a one-off concert in 2007, over three decades since they had last performed together, you can imagine the levels of excitement running through Grohl. Given that original drummer John Bonham had long since passed away, there were questions about who would take up the mantle, and Grohl’s hat was quickly thrown in the ring.
At the time, the Foo Fighters frontman answered these rumours in NME, sharing, “I am at their beck and call! But Jason [Bonham] should be the one. It should be Jason, and everyone knows that. He’s a fucking phenomenal drummer, y’know?” The songwriter was correct in this assumption, as John Bonham’s son, Jason Bonham, did end up playing drums for Led Zeppelin during that 2007 show in London.
Nevertheless, drumming for his idols would have been a dream come true for Grohl, who admitted, “If I got that call, what the fuck do you think I’d be saying? ‘Hey Chris and Taylor, let’s take a little break for a few days. I’ll see ya later!’ But I don’t expect that to happen.”
Although Grohl did not achieve his childhood fantasy of drumming with Led Zeppelin, he has been able to get a taste of that dream. In 2008, during a headline show at Wembley Stadium, Foo Fighters performed alongside Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. In fact, Grohl even got the chance to record with Jones after forming Crooked Vultures alongside Josh Homme. These recording sessions, along with the Wembley performance, allowed Grohl to live out his wildest rock and roll fantasies in real life.
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