The Foo Fighters album Dave Grohl called a “happy accident”
He might be a musical Renaissance man, but Dave Grohl has enjoyed his fair share of good fortune to help him on his way. As with all storied artists, his tale is underscored by natural talent and a hefty dose of fortuity, both of which contributed to his rise from youthful dreamer to stadium-filling star.
It’s safe to say that when Grohl was a wide-eyed child listening to the sounds of The Beatles, staring idly at the life-sized poster of Kiss on his bedroom wall, there is no way he could have fathomed just how his life would pan out. Galvanised by the drumming of Ringo Starr and Rush legend Neil Peart, he would eventually find his way to the instrument and quickly take to it.
From being hired as a chancing 17-year-old by hardcore punks Scream to his friendship with Melvins leading him to Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic when they were searching for a drummer, fortune was always present when Grohl needed it. Just as it seemed like he had hit a brick wall, Lady Luck was there to smash through it.
After Cobain’s suicide in April 1994, Grohl’s life was in total disarray, and he was on the verge of quitting music for good. During this painful period, he travelled to the Ring of Kerry in Ireland to do some intense soul-searching. At one point during the trip, he was driving down a country road and picked up a hitchhiker, who reset the course of his life. Despite the secluded environment, he was wearing a Nirvana T-shirt, and that was the moment the former Nirvana drummer realised he couldn’t run anymore. This remarkably haphazard encounter would rewrite a tale Grohl felt had just about reached its end.
He knew then that he would return home and pick up music again. In October 1994, he entered Robert Lang Studios and recorded 15 original songs, with most parts played by himself. Wanting to stay anonymous, he released an album’s worth of these recordings under the name of Foo Fighters in the hope that listeners would think it was an actual band and not the former Nirvana drummer. Ironically, the tape soon circulated in the industry and led to him forming a real iteration of Foo Fighters, with the demo eventually becoming their 1995 self-titled debut.
According to Grohl, the Foo Fighters debut was another “happy accident” in a long line of them. Speaking to Guitar World in 2005, he explained: “I always imagine every album we make will be our last. The first record was such a happy accident: it was a demo tape that turned into an album that turned into a band. I didn’t have any long-term ambition to form a band, but that record’s success changed my perspective on everything.”
He then revealed why he made the hit second album, 1997’s The Colour and the Shape: “The second album was made to keep the first album from becoming a one-off side project. I thought I should try to make something out of it, and the second record seemed like the perfect way to send it off.”
Grohl admitted that he was more than glad to be a part of another outfit that had cemented its place in the public consciousness, but he had his doubts in the beginning. Years later, there is no more room for doubt.
