The guitarist Dave Grohl thought no one could match: “He spoke his own language with it”
Not only is Dave Grohl one of the most revered musicians around, but he has spent his career working alongside the best of the best. From shaping Nirvana’s sound with Kurt Cobain to collaborating with legends like Stevie Nicks and Paul McCartney, his experience is unmatched. So when Grohl shares his thoughts on the greatest players in music, it’s an opinion worth listening to.
From his early days behind the drum kit to his current role as the frontman of Foo Fighters, Grohl has had a front-row seat to some of the greatest musicians in history. It must be one of the true honours of his career—not just the music he has created or the experiences he has had as a musician in his own right, but the opportunities to collaborate and perform alongside his heroes. Those moments surely hold a special place in his heart.
There have been countless examples. During the making of his documentary, Sound City, he called in some of history’s finest to jam with him, including Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, Rick Springfield, Trent Reznor and more. At shows throughout his career, special guest stars have included some of the most famous music makers around. But chances are, none of them impressed him quite like Jimmy Page.
In a 2000 interview about his listening habits, Grohl not only deemed Page the most imaginative musician around but said that he was utterly irreplaceable and irreplicable.
“I think Jimmy Page took guitar to place no one has ever been and I don’t think anyone can ever duplicate what he does,” he said, lavishing the praise onto the Led Zeppelin player. It’s true. When Page and his band stepped into the limelight, they were doing rock and roll on a different scale. Partially powered by his previous career as a session musician, allowing him to know basically everything about his instrument and how to use it, that skill, matched with a dedication to experimentation, led to the launch of something totally new. What Led Zeppelin pioneered then has been referenced over and over since but arguably never beaten.
“He just had a way with guitar where he spoke his own language with it,” Grohl continued, attempting to articulate Page’s singular talent to Steve Lamacq. In his eyes, he’s in a total league of his own that other players can only look towards and take inspiration from, never truly being able to meet him there or even dare to come close to bettering him.
But beyond even just skill level, Grohl is inspired by Page’s tenacity and power as a musician. “The guy is just probably the most passionate player I’ve heard in my life,” he said. Then, in 2008, when they played live together, he saw it in action. Captured in a live video as Page joined Foo Fighters at Wembley Stadium to play ‘Rock And Roll’, Grohl is back behind the drum kit, smiling like a kid. The magnitude of the moment is visible as he plays with everything he’s got, clearly trying to impress one of his idols.
