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| Dave Grohl; Artist Biography | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 17 2009, 06:56 PM (180 Views) | |
| Dante | Apr 17 2009, 06:56 PM Post #1 |
how can it FEEL this WRONG??
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 David Eric Grohl was born on January 14, 1969 in Warren, Ohio. His parents were Violet and James Grohl, and he had one older sister, Lisa. The Grohls moved to Springfield, Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC, when he was three. Violet and James divorced three years later. Dave and his sister remained with their mother, who had to work three jobs, including an English teacher, to support them. Grohl claims the divorce did not affect him much (Azerrad, 147-148). Grohl always had an interest in music, but one summer he was introduced to the music that would shape the rest of his life. Dave and Lisa went to their Aunt Tracy’s house for the summer where she took them to punk rock shows. After that, Dave was into punk rock, which led him to join a band called Freak Baby and, unfortunately, to marijuana. Dave had guitar lessons when he was younger, and played guitar in the band. He thought the drummer in Freak Baby was horrible so, he began teaching himself to play drums. When the band kicked out their bassist, the drummer switched to bass, and Dave switched to drums. After that, Freak Baby changed their name to Mission Impossible, then to Fast. Shortly after, they broke up (Azerrad, 148-149). In his late teens, Grohl got into the DC hardcore punk scene. A band that he admired, Scream, was looking for a drummer, and Grohl wanted to try out. He was too young to play with them, but he weaseled his way into an audition. To his surprise, they asked him to join. During his junior year, Grohl dropped out of high school to become a full time drummer for Scream. His mother, being a teacher, was skeptical, but she trusted him. Grohl was given money for night school, but he spent it on marijuana. Dave drummed on the Scream albums No More Censorship and Fumble (Azerrad, 150). In 1990 after Scream unexpectedly broke-up, Grohl was stranded in Los Angles. He called his friend Buzz Osborne of the band the Melvins, who gave him Krist Novoselic’s, the bassist of the currently small Seattle band Nirvana, phone number. The members of Nirvana had briefly met Grohl at a Scream show and were very awed by Dave’s drumming. Novoselic was ecstatic to hear from him and invited him to Seattle where he almost immediately joined. Grohl was not very impressed with the Seattle music scene, and Kurt Cobain, Nirvana’s guitarist and singer, was contemplating on Grohl’s personality. However, the two became very close friends. Grohl moved into a dirty apartment with Cobain where the two barely spoke. Although Grohl was in a long history of drummer replacements, he fit in Nirvana well and the chemistry between the band gave them the sound that made them famous. Over the next few months, Nirvana rehearsed and then went on the hunt for a label; they eventually signed to Geffen (Azerrad 151-162). In 1990 Grohl recorded an album by himself under the pseudonym Late!. The album was called Pocketwatch. Some of the songs also appear on Grohl’s later works including “Friend of a Friend” which he wrote about his first encounters with Nirvana (Wikipedia, Dave Grohl). In May of 1991, Nirvana was formally signed and ready to record with producer Butch Vig in California. Before the recording sessions Grohl was the one that made Courtney Love and Cobain aware of the fact that they both liked each other. However, he probably wouldn’t have done that if he had known about the numerous feuds between himself and Love that would occur afterward. They worked for two months on Nevermind. Then the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” started getting played constantly on MTV and Nevermind made it onto the billboard charts. It was a completely new experience for Grohl and Nirvana, and they were overwhelmed (Azerrad 170-180). Grohl felt that he was close to insane and had numerous panic attacks on the Nevermind tour; he even fainted on stage (Mundy, Rolling Stone). Cobain and Love married in February of 1992, Love gave birth to Frances Bean Cobain in August (Azzerad). This was a problem for Grohl in the future, because after Cobain’s death she would have rights to Nirvana material and she made it very difficult for some Nirvana songs to be released. In 1993, Nirvana recorded their final studio album, In Utero, with Steve Albini. The album was much more obscure than Nevermind, and was not sold in stores like Walmart because of controversial artwork and songs. The songs weren’t as radio-friendly; songs such as the ironically titled “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” contained feedback and strange sounds. In Utero reached 1# on the billboards, and the lead single, “Heart-Shaped Box”, received airplay on radios and MTV. Despite the commercial success, not as many people came to the shows on the tour, which featured the addition of Pat Smear from the Germs on guitar (Azerrad). After playing on MTV’s Unplugged in fall of 1993, Nirvana went on their European tour in winter of 1994. Grohl was told that Cobain died in Rome when he overdosed, and Grohl said he “freaked out and lost his mind”. Later he was told it was a false alarm, and the rest of the tour was cancelled after another overdose in Germany (Scaggs, Rolling Stone). Cobain killed himself April of 1994, and it affected Grohl hard and was inspiration for his music in the future. Dave was unsure of what was next, and was isolating himself form the press about Cobain. He recorded a 15-track demo with the instruments done all by him; some of the songs came from the Late! demo. Grohl was also considering joining Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Pearl Jam, but felt that there was something more important that he should be doing (Wikipedia, Dave Grohl). The president of Capitol Records asked Grohl to sign to the label, but Grohl wasn’t ready to sign as a solo artist. He got Pat Smear from Nirvana to join as a lead guitarist. His first choice for a bassist was Krist Novoselic, but he thought that people would think it would be a distasteful Nirvana remake (Mundy, Rolling Stone). He recruited Nate Mendel, bassist, and William Goldsmith, drummer, from Sunny Day Real Estate who recently broke-up. Grohl would be the lead signer and rhythm guitarist. He got the demo mastered and released it as Foo Fighters. Grohl got the name Foo Fighters from a nickname for UFOs in World War Two. The album went platinum (Wikipedia, Foo Fighters). The singles for the album were “This Is a Call”, “I’ll Stick Around”, and “Big Me”. “Big Me” was a MTV hit; the video was a spoof of a Mentos commercial. The band doesn’t like playing that song live because fans shower them with Mentos whenever the play it. One thing that worried Grohl when he made the record is that people might think the toy gun on the cover, “One shot, nothing” from “Weenie Beanie”, and “I don’t owe you anything” from the song “I’ll Stick Around” are about Cobain. Grohl does admit parts of “I’ll Stick Around” are about Courtney Love, like the lyric “How could it be/I’m the only one who sees your rehearsed insanity?” (Mundy, Rolling Stone). In 1997, Foo Fighters second album, The Colour and the Shape, was released. The album is more mature than Foo Fighters and contains some of their biggest hits like “My Hero” and “Everlong”. The Colour and the Shape went platinum and is widely accepted by fans as the best album. Before recording the album, Goldsmith left the band and was replaced by Taylor Hawkins of Alanis Morissette. Pat Smear also left Foo Fighters and was replaced by Grohl’s old friend Franz Stahl from Scream, but before the release of the third album Stahl also left and was replaced by Chris Shiflett of No Use For a Name. Shiflett joined as a touring guitarist, but became a full-time member before the release of the fourth album. In 1999, Foo Fighters left Capitol Records because the president that signed them left the company. They went to Grohl’s basement to record their third album, There Is Nothing Left To Lose. The album was recorded without a record label holding them back, so the Foo Fighters were able to go all out. When they were done with the album they signed to RCA records and released it. The first single “Learn To Fly” was the most popish Foo Fighters song ever, and it received moderate radio play. The video was frequently played on MTV and featured the members of the band as airplane flight attendants, passengers, and even the pilots. It was similar to the video for “Big Me” because it was meant to be funny. The video also featured Grohl’s friends Jack Black and Kyle Gas from Tenacious D, whom Grohl drums for and appears in their video for the song “Tribute”. The song “Breakout” was featured in the movie Me, Myself, and Irene. There Is Nothing Left To Lose went platinum and received the Grammy for Best Rock Album (Wikipedia, Foo Fighters). In 2001, Grohl had some flashbacks of Cobain when Taylor Hawkins overdosed on painkillers. He was as worried as he was when Kurt would overdose, and he stayed in the hospital for about two weeks with him (Scaggs, Rolling Stone). Foo Fighters played on The David Lettermen show in 2001. Then they recorded Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar” with Queen guitarist, Brian May. The song appeared on the soundtrack to Mission Impossible 2. Grohl also joined Queen when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 (Wikipedia, Foo Fighters). Also in 2001, he mixed the last Nirvana song ever recorded, “You Know You’re Right”, with Novoselic. It was emotional for them to mix it because it was recorded very close to Cobain’s death. They wanted to release it, but Courtney Love refused until she finally let them release it on a greatest hits album. Near the end of 2001, Foo Fighters went into the studio to record their fourth album. After four months, the album was finished, but Grohl was unhappy with it. He left Foo Fighters and joined Queens of the Stone Age to record the album Songs For The Deaf. Grohl brought major attention to the band, before he joined they were very independent. He went on tour with the band as well, and felt rejuvenated afterward. He went back into the studio with Foo Fighters again for a mere two weeks compared to the four months they spent recording the fluke recordings. The album was called One by One and contained huge songs like “Times Like These”, “All My Life” and “Low”. One by One went platinum in the US and the UK and debuted at the highest positions in the charts ever for a Foo Fighters record. The album also received great reviews and Grammy for Best Rock Album. “All My Life” got received the Grammy for best Hard Rock performance. Despite the acceptance in the music world, Grohl says about the album, “Four of the songs were good, and the other seven I never played again in my life. We rushed into it, and we rushed out of it.” Fans also wildly accept the album as the worst (Wikipedia). “Times Like These” was a hit, and in 2004 George W. Bush used it to his advantage. At Republican rallies across the US, “Times Like These” was played, and when Grohl found out he was outraged. He states, "I don't give if he likes our band, but I take it personally when a politician that doesn't represent my personal beliefs uses music that I poured my heart and soul into for his personal gain." Grohl decided to put his support with John Kerry during the campaign and went to rallies with him and played acoustic versions of “Times Like These” and “My Hero” (“Foo Fights The Power”, Rolling Stone). Throughout the early 2000s, Grohl fulfilled his dream of working with some of his favorite 1990s metal artists. He recorded an album called Probot that was released in 2004 with various metal singers and guitarists with Grohl on drums. The album was released on an independent label. Grohl and the Foo Fighters built a studio in Los Angles in 2005 to record their fifth album. In Your Honor was a two disc album– one rock, one acoustic. The first single, “Best of You”, received airplay comparable to that of “Learn to Fly”. The album debuted 2# and went platinum already. On their 10th anniversary the band played in Roswell, the site of a UFO conspiracy (Wikipedia, Foo Fighters). During the summer of 2006, Foo Fighters went on an acoustic tour for support of In Your Honor. The tour had more musicians than the usual Foo Fighters line-up and Pat Smear returned to play guitar. The tour featured songs on the Late! album like “Friend of a Friend” and the Nirvana b-side “Marigold”. The tour was turned into an album and DVD called Skin and Bones. In the UK the DVD also featured concert footage of their show at Hyde Park, which was the biggest Foo Fighters concert ever (Wikipedia, Foo Fighters). Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace was released in September of 2007. The first single was "The Pretender", which got a lot of airplay, topped Modern Rock charts for a record 18 week, and received the Grammy for best hard rock performance. The album itself won the Grammy for best Rock album of the year and was nominated for best album of the year. Dave stated that the band was taking a break for "10 years", but drummer Taylor Hawkins, notorious for not knowing what not to tell the press, stated that they would get back in the studios before the summer in February of 2009. Dave has also worked with many other artists recently. He played songs on albums for Garbage, Cat Power, Pete Yorn, Nine Inch Nails, Neil Young, Killing Joke, and David Bowie. He recently drummed for friends Tenacious D and appeared in their movie The Pick of Destiny as the Devil (Wikipedia, Dave Grohl ). Grohl was married to photographer Jennifer Youngblood from 1993-1997. Jennifer took pictures for Nirvana and the first Foo Fighters album, but other than that had no other connections with Grohl’s music. The Colour and the Shape was written about their divorce. He had a few serious relationships between then and marrying former MTV worker Jordyn Blum in 2003. Dave and Jordyn had their first child, Violet Maye Grohl on April 15, 2006. The Grohl family currently lives in Los Angeles (Wikipedia, Dave Grohl). David Eric Grohl is an amazing musician who changed modern rock. He was a key factor in the band Nirvana, which shaped the rock music industry for years to come. His band, Foo Fighters, was an influential band during the 90s and today and their music touched the lives of many people. Sources: Azerrad, Michael. Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. New York. Broadway Books, 1993. “Dave Grohl.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Grohl (Feb 4 2007) “Foo Fighters.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foo_Fighters (Jan 23 2007) Scaggs, Austin. “On an Honor Roll.” The Rolling Stone. July 2005, pp69-73. Grohl, Dave. “That Was Then, This Is Now.” Kerrang!. Yearbook Ed. 2003 “Foo Fights The Power.” The Rolling Stone. September 2004, pp 39 Mundy, Chris. “Foo Fighters.” The Rolling Stone. October 1995, pp40-46. (9th grade research papers sure were easy) |
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| Morgan | Apr 17 2009, 07:58 PM Post #2 |
Dinkin' flicka.
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Lol, cool. I didn't know he dropped out of high school...he really got damn lucky. =/ Congratulations, your article has been accepted! It will be added to the website within the next few days and 500 Notes will be added to your account. Thank you for contributing to Music-Talk! |
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If If you If you could If you could only If you could only stop If you could only stop your If you could only stop your heart If you could only stop your heart beat If you could only stop your heart beat for If you could only stop your heart beat for one heart If you could only stop your heart beat for one heart beat. | |
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| Dante | Apr 17 2009, 08:25 PM Post #3 |
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how can it FEEL this WRONG??
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He really did... I think one time he called himself a "moron who won the lottery" or something. |
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| Morgan | Apr 17 2009, 08:31 PM Post #4 |
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Dinkin' flicka.
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Do you know if he ever tried to get his GED or something? He doesn't strike me as an unintelligent guy...I mean, I think if I was in his situation I'd feel more accomplished if I finished my education. |
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If If you If you could If you could only If you could only stop If you could only stop your If you could only stop your heart If you could only stop your heart beat If you could only stop your heart beat for If you could only stop your heart beat for one heart If you could only stop your heart beat for one heart beat. | |
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| Sayf Udeen | Apr 17 2009, 11:20 PM Post #5 |
Member
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Not bad...For a 40 year old. |
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| Dante | Apr 17 2009, 11:24 PM Post #6 |
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how can it FEEL this WRONG??
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I don't think he got his GED. I don't really think he cares all that much, and I'm pretty sure after Nevermind his life was pretty much set so that he would never really need it. |
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