The greatest one-man band in music history, according to Dave Grohl
There were few musicians as powerful as Dave Grohl in his pomp, but it’s always been very clear that he has taken his lead from Led Zeppelin.
Approaching the venue of their upcoming shows, like a chorus of rolling thunder, they epitomised the loud and raucous nature of sex, drugs and rock and roll. But they didn’t achieve this through mediocrity of any kind, as every instrument in the lineup was filled by a musician at the very top of their game, with the ability to play with unrelenting energy that kept this rock and roll machine ticking.
Understandably, their heavy brand of rock and roll served as a blueprint for a young Dave Grohl, whose ambitions of becoming a musician were shaped by Zeppelin and a generation of full-blooded rock bands, their wall of noise approach to songwriting and performance shaping his drum playing in the unrelenting Nirvana days, while similarly moulding his charismatic approach to being a frontman for the Foo Fighters.
Despite his individual status of fame, that’s made him one of the most recognisable faces in music, Grohl has always been a man that’s put faith in the band setup. He was never destined to become a solo artist, for he wholeheartedly believed in the group approach being the most compelling, until, of course, a chance encounter with a true icon led to his questioning his entire musical philosophy.
It was during Prince’s 21-night run at the Forum in Los Angeles that he got word of Grohl’s attendance and subsequently invited him to the arena before another show to have a jam session with the musician and his band, with the latter recalling, “Then he picks up a guitar and starts playing ‘Whole Lotta Love’ by Led Zeppelin, and it was awesome. It sounded so good, amazing. We do that for like eight minutes, and I’m like, ‘Oh god, this is the best band I’ve ever been in’.”
High praise given Grohl had been in Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and Them Crooked Vultures at the time, with the latter being a supergroup made up of Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, and, in fact, Grohl has even played with Zeppelin himself, inviting them on stage during a Foo Fighters show in London.
Nevertheless, playing with the Detroit musician superseded any of those experiences on the sheer basis that Prince was operating on a different level than all musicians. Despite being one of the most revered drummers in history, Grohl’s skills felt somewhat worthless in the presence of a man who had mastered every instrument.
“I’m an ’80s kid, so I grew up with all of his records, and as a popular musician, he was the most talented of anybody,” he said, “He was the best bass player, he was the best guitar player, he was the best drummer, he was the best singer, he was the best dancer. He was just the best.”
Prince defied all logic, not least the idea that Grohl himself championed, which is that music sounds best when made in a band. The truth was, Prince simply didn’t need one to create sounds that rivalled the power of Zeppelin and countless other legends.
