What fuels Foo Fighters frontman David Grohl’s creative urges

Grief, deep and personal, fuels David Grohl’s creative urges in a big way. Go back to 1994 when he was the little-known drummer of an exciting rock band named Nirvana. Then all of a sudden he lost the group’s frontman Kurt Cobain, who was also his close friend to suicide. David mourned the loss but not the usual way. Instead of wallowing in sorrow, he went to the studio and recorded an entire album all by himself.

And it was really all by himself.  That was what grief did to him. He wrote the songs, sang them and played all of the instruments in the recording.

Among the results were This is a Call, I’ll Stick Around, For All the Cows and Big Me. The album was done to help him get through a difficult time and all that David wanted was to share it with close friends. But some people thought otherwise and within a few months that self-titled album by a new band, whose name David almost literally plucked out of the air, Foo Fighters means UFOs, was selling big.

It has been 29 years since and David remains frontman of the Foo Fighters, which ceased being a one-man-band by the second album. It is now considered one of the most successful rock bands of all time. Best of all, it is still standing and making hits, at a time when rock music is no longer seen as trendy.

David’s songwriting skills have gotten better over the years and he had always had this knack for being able to get excellent musicians to join him.

As of now, the Foo Fighters is made up of David on vocals and guitar; Pat Smear on guitar, Chris Shiflett on guitar; Nate Mendel on bass; Rami Jaffee on Keyboards; and Josh Freese on drums. Josh replaced Taylor Hawkins who died from an overdose of drugs while on tour with the band last March, 2022. He was 50 years old.

Just as Kurt’s demise triggered the spate of creativity that gave birth to the Foos, Taylor’s sudden death became the inspiration for David to come up with some of his best work. The album titled But Here We Are came out a few days ago. It is dedicated to Taylor and to Virginia, David’s mother who also passed away last year. David felt the pain. Surely he still does and But Here We Are is a growling lamentation that lays out his pain for all the world to see and of course, hear.

David knows the Foos’ market and as always, he is ready to please them. More so with But Here We Are because this time it is at a most personal level. Be prepared though for the nearly quiet moments where David takes on a softness that only love and loss can provide. Like that acoustic guitar in Show Me How, where he harmonizes with his young daughter in an almost-pop melody.

But then, there are the arena rockers that Foo fans will surely delight in, like Rescued, Beyond Me and the title cut. Truly loudly satisfying is The Teacher, a 10-minute opus dedicated to his mother, who was an English teacher. This one says it all as it ends in a banshee wail of Goodbyeeeee!

Top 20 titles in Billboard Top 200 Album

Rock fans must feel good finding honest to goodness rock music in the Billboard Top 200 Album list this week. Who says rock is dead. Certainly not with the Foo Fighters around. Here are the Top 20 titles:

5-Star: The Third Album by the Stray Kids; One Thing at a Time by Morgan Wallen; Whitsitt Chapel by Jelly Roll; Dark Blood by ENHYPEN; Midnights by Taylor Swift; Almost Healed by Lil Durk; Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse by Metro Boomin’; But Here We Are by The Foo Fighters; SOS by SZA; Hard to Love by Moneybagg Yo.

Dangerous: The Double Album by Morgan Wallen; Lover by Taylor Swift; Life is But a Dream by Avenged Sevenfold; American Heartbreak by Zach Bryan; Gettin’ Old by Luke Combs; Un Verano sin Ti by Bad Bunny; Heroes and Villains by Metro Boomin’; Folklore by Taylor Swift; Naujour by Toosii; and 1989, also by Taylor Swift.