Dave Grohl Biography
Quick FactsBirthday: January 14, 1969
Nationality: American
Famous: Quotes By Dave Grohl Musicians
Also Known As: David Eric Grohl
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Age: 49 Years
Born In: Warren
Height: 1.83 M
Spouse/Ex-: Jordyn Blum (M. 2003), Jennifer Youngblood (M. 1993–1997)
Father: James Grohl
Mother: Virginia Grohl
Children: Harper Willow Grohl, Violet Maye Grohl
Religion: Roman Catholic
Founder/Co-Founder: Foo Fighters
Net Worth: $260 Million
Dave Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He started playing the guitar at a very young age, and is self-taught for the most part. He later learned to play drums, citing John Banham as his greatest influence. Grohl played drums for the grunge band "Nirvana" from 1991 to 1994, after which the band dissolved after the death of its lead singer, Kurt Cobain. After the sudden end of Nirvana, he went on to form his own band, "Foo Fighters". He was also co-founder of the super rock group, "Them Crooked Vultures", in which he was a supporting drummer and vocalist. Grohl played a variety of other instruments, including acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar and piano. His band, Foo Fighters, has performed at several charity events, including Citizen Festival, Concert for Sandy Relief, etc. Grohl is a supporter of the rights of homosexuals. In 2009, he was honored with the key to his hometown of Warren, Ohio, and also has a street named after him, David Grohl Alley, where he has painted murals of himself.
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Childhood and early life
He was born to James Grohl and his wife Virginia Grohl, who soon moved from Warren, Ohio to Springfield, Virginia. His parents divorced when he was six years old and raised by his mother.
At age 12, he began to learn guitar, but soon got tired of the lessons. As a result, he taught himself and started playing in bands with friends. During his summer vacation, his cousin Tracy introduced him to the punk rock genre, which led him to several presentations of punk bands in Illinois. He saw his first live concert in Chicago by a Chicago-based punk rock group "Naked Raygun."
He enrolled as a freshman at Thomas Jefferson High School, Virginia and was voted to be the vice president of his new class. But he was soon transferred to Bishop Ireton High School, Alexandria, by his mother, as his grades were severely affected due to his drug addiction. He remained there for two years before being transferred to another school, Annandale High School, Virginia.
During his high school years, he played extensively with several local bands, including "Freak Baby." Meanwhile, he learned to play the drums on his own.
In his teens, he went to the club at 9.30 on a regular basis. It was a live music concert hall in Washington DC that greatly influenced his life and shaped his naive mind.
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Career
At age 17, he auditioned and was selected to be the drummer of a hardcore punk band "Scream", so he dropped out of high school in his junior year. He traveled extensively with the band and recorded many live albums with them, of which "No More Censorship" and "Fumble" became very popular.
In the late 1990s, "Scream" disbanded and went to Seattle for an audition for "Nirvana." He joined the band full time after being selected, and signed a contract in due time with an important record label, 'DGC Records'. From then on, the band recorded their first album "Nevermind" and released it.
Meanwhile, disappointed in his drummer status in the band, he continued composing lyrics and songs alone. In 1992, he compiled and released his own cassette "Pocketwatch" on the independent label "Simple Machines" under the pseudonym "Tarde! Apart from this, he played the drums on Buzz Osborne's solo EP for which he won the pseudonym Dale Nixon.
Before heading to his European tour in 1994, he and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana worked on many demonstrations at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle. The duo together completed many of their songs until the arrival of Cobain. Later they recorded a demonstration of the song entitled "You know you're right", which turned out to be the band's last studio recording.
In April of 1994, the band stopped with the death of Kurt Cobain. In October, he recorded a demo of fifteen tracks in Robert Lang's studio in Seattle and played all the instruments on his own.
In 1995, he formed his own rock band, incorporating several musical artists, including Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear, William Goldsmith and Nate Mendel from "Sunny Day Real Estate". He recorded an album with them composed mainly of his own demonstrations to which Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock gave a professional touch. The album was finally released in July 1995, as their debut album under the name of the band "Foo Fighters".
In 1997, he composed several soundtracks for the movie "Touch", where he himself played all the instruments and lent his voice to the songs. Once the recording session ended, he joined "Foo Fighters" to work with them in their follow-up.
