The Foo Fighters song so good that it gave Dave Grohl an anxiety attack
Dave Grohl is one of the most revered names in alternative music. Starting out in a punk rock outfit called Scream, when the drummer stumbled upon Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic at a gig, life would never be the same again. After the downfall of his old group, Grohl landed a position playing drums for Nirvana and began to hone a reputation as one of the greatest drummers of all time.
Grohl’s first full-length release with Nirvana came in 1991 with Nevermind, which remains not only one of the most influential albums within grunge and alternative scenes but one of the most iconic records of all time. Spawning long-lasting hits like ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and ‘Come As You Are’, Grohl had already cemented himself as a staple in the scene.
The band earned further success with In Utero in 1993, though it was to be the final full-length offering from Nirvana. After the death of Cobain in 1994, Grohl struggled to find his way back into music. He briefly played with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was rumoured to join Pearl Jam, but he eventually landed on going solo with a project that would become the Foo Fighters.
Almost three decades on, the project has expanded from Grohl into a full band and carved out a new place within alternative rock. Between hits like ‘Everlong’ and ‘The Pretender’, Foo Fighters have become one of the most well-known and well-loved bands in contemporary music. The formation of the band also marked the first time Grohl was happy with his own sonic creations.
In 1955, Foo Fighters released the second single ahead of their debut record. Titled ‘I’ll Stick Around’, the song featured Grohl’s ever-potent drums and words full of intention and purpose. “I’ve taken all and I’ve endured, one day it will all fade, I’m sure, I don’t owe you anything,” Grohl gruffly declares over powerful, grungy instrumentals. Grohl has since stated that the track was about Courtney Love.
When Grohl first listened to the song back, he was taken aback by how much he liked it. He was so surprised by this reaction that it sent him into an anxiety attack. As he recalled in This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl, the drummer “actually had an anxiety attack because I finally realised that this was good.” Everything he had recorded over the previous six years, he thought, was “crap”. Yet, all of a sudden, he was impressed by and happy with his own musical output.
Following that second single, Foo Fighters delivered their acclaimed, self-titled debut record, and it seemed that Grohl had refound his place in music. Almost 20 years later, he remains the driving force behind Foo Fighters.
