Not everyone is lucky enough to be a part of two of the biggest rock bands of all time. However, it might be a bit rude to call it luck considering the fact that the band got popular because of its member’s talent and hard work. One of the popular music artists who were a part of two bands is Dave Grohl who once used to be a drummer for the American rock band Nirvana formed in 1987.
After Nirvana disbanded, Grohl decided to form his own band so in 1994 Grohl formed a band named Foo Fighters. And it’s obvious that both of these bands are one of the most popular rock bands in history. Furthermore, Dave himself is a brand of his own. Although he was a drummer, he started playing guitar, and certainly, he was not much of a songwriter.
However, he became one after he forced himself to become one. When he was in Nirvana he was fully in drums however, he also co-wrote a few songs including Endless, Nameless, and a few others. It was after Grohl formed Foo Fighters he forced himself to write songs. So who did he get influence or inspiration to write songs? we will be discussing it in this piece.
Dave Grohl’s biggest songwriting influences
In an interview with Classic Rock, Grohl revealed that he grew up listening to various bands including The Beatles and Led Zeppelin however, they were not his biggest songwriting influences. He said, “I grew up with The Beatles, I loved Led Zeppelin, I fucking loved the Bad Brains and punk rock, but when it comes to guitar playing and song structure, I think that Hüsker Dü might be my biggest songwriting influence.”
He further said that other than Bad Brains he was also influenced to write songs by Hüsker Dü’s vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Bob Mould. Grohl said, “Bob Mould’s music has influenced the way I write music and the way I play guitar. A lot of what I do comes from Bob. I’ve name-checked Hüsker Dü songs lyrically.”
Moreover, he said that he owes Bob more than any other music artist and he realized it after they once met. After their meeting, Grohl realized that he has learned things from Bob that he never learned from anybody else. Furthermore, when Classic Rock interviewed Grohl years later, he again praised Bob and said that he deserves to be considered among the greatest American songwriters and lyricists.
Well, here you go these are the two music artists who Dave considers his biggest songwriting influences. There are also people who claim that you can find Bob’s influences in Grohl’s songs. The two of these legendary music artists have also collaborated in 2011 in a live show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. They performed Hüsker Dü’s song Ice Cold Ice together which was a tribute to Hüsker Dü. Above you can find the video of them playing together and if you feel like watching you can watch or listen to it while you read the article.
Furthermore, talking about Grohl’s time in Nirvana, this band had one of the shortest music careers that lasted only seven years. They were one loved band but sadly in 1994, they broke up after the frontman and lead vocalist Kurt Cobain died. Apparently, Kurt committed suicide. According to a police record, a shotgun was found with Kurt and he had a visible gunshot wound in his head.
Kurt still remains one of the biggest music influencers and certainly, Grohl must also have picked a thing or two from Cobain. He spent seven years with him and obviously, a person certainly gets influenced by his friend.
