Narrator/Host (16:01)
Dave Grohl is a great drummer, sure, and songwriter and frontman. But his greatest talent may be as a storyteller. We've all seen him back in the day on mtv disarming a nervous interviewer in some comfy late night chair, blowing the minds of the host and studio audience, talking shit to some podcaster, stunning some morning drive dj, all with jaw dropping story after jaw dropping story featuring him, Dave Grohl, the nicest guy in rock and roll right there at the center of our rock and roll fantasy. There's the one about Dave meeting Lemmy from Motorhead for the first time and that time Dave made a pilgrimage to Pantera's strip club. Then there are all those stories about Dave experiencing some sort of UFO encounter? And there's that time he drank 40 cups of coffee in one day, got chased by knife wielding junkies in Amsterdam, broke his leg on stage in Sweden, and returned with a doctor at his side to hold the a bone in place so he could finish the show for his fans. And my favorite, Dave showing up on the set of the X Files and talking his way into a role as an extra. It's not just the wild experiences that make these tales so interesting. It's the way Dave Grohl tells these stories. He's a natural. Songwriters are, of course, storytellers, and the best of the best know this and use one talent to enhance the other. And Dave Grohl seems hyper conscious of this skill. His Instagram handle is avestruestories. His 2022 memoir is titled Storyteller. My point is, what the hell am I doing? There's no way I'm gonna do Dave Grohl's story or the story of the Foo Fighters justice. Nobody can tell Dave's story as well as Dave himself. But maybe I can fill in some, some gaps, some narrative drum fills if you will. Nothing over the top. Not so much Bron Dalor from Mastodon, but perhaps something a bit more Levon Helm from the band. Just some thoughtful emphasis to round out the story the frontman is telling. Because like I said, there's no telling Dave Grohl's story. Like Dave Grohl, but like the punk rock snobs who only vibe on the first two Foo Fighters records, their self titled 1995 debut in 1997's the Color and the Shape. When it comes to Dave Grohl, the storyteller, I prefer his early stuff going all the way back to the Melvins, the Pacific Northwest sludge heroes, to Nirvana, the heaviest band on the planet since Black Sabbath, a band whose leader King Buzzo's 1992 self titled solo effort features a spoken word rant by a little known musician at the time credited in homage to Black Flag as Dale Nixon, but known to his friends in and around Seattle as Dave Grohl. So Dave was in Olympia and he was staying at this guy Kurt's house, a new friend of his. He was a singer in Dave's new band, Nirvana. They were just starting with their second album, Nevermind, and everything was going pretty good. Kurt, he was writing these great new songs and within a couple months Nevermind came out, you know, and I guess radio DJs really liked it or something because they were constantly playing Nirvana and giving him lots of love, making them money, you know. And Kurt was constantly harassed by the press. It was always getting high, heroin, the bad stuff, you know, he was in bad shape. The spotlight just got hotter. Kurt was really hurt. I don't think he knew about fame before, but he had other demons, I suppose. So Dave is sitting on his couch now in his LA apartment and he's reading, you know, Maximum Rock and Roll or Flip side or one of those punk things. And he hears the phone ring. There's a guy on the other end of the line really going on. Kurt was in Rome, Kurt was in some hotel. He was really, really doing bad, you know, he looked bad too, you know, on the phone. The guy puts his guards on the table and whatever. Dave is just reading his little punk magazine, but he's paying attention. He says. He says, kurt's dead. Dave hangs up. And he's standing there with the phone in his. And he hangs up like. But then the phone rings again and Dave finally answers it. And Dave doesn't know what to think. Dave says, is Kurt Cobain really dead? And the guy says, no, I think he's alive. Imagine that. Imagine you're in the biggest band on the planet, as Dave Grohl was in 1994 in Nirvana. A band that had come out of nowhere from Olympia, Washington by way of Seattle, to outsell Michael Jackson, to completely change the pop music game and music forever. And you're Dave Grohl, a 21 year old hardcore kid from Virginia who just a few months earlier was playing in the D.C. hardcore band Scream and living in squalor. Crashing on a friend's floor in la, subsisting on a diet of convenience store hot dogs and canned beans. And then you join Nirvana and you make an incredible album. Not just an incredible album album musically, but one of those albums that changes music, that changes culture. Nirvana's Nevermind, which, let's be honest, was strengthened because of the addition of Dave Grohl's drumming. That inimitable hardcore heaviness, that Neanderthal disco, as Dave called it. Part Black Sabbath's Bill Ward, part Chic's Tony Thompson, Nevermind changed how kids listened to music, how they consumed music, how they dressed, how they thought. And now, now you're Dave and you're hanging out with friends in sunny LA one afternoon and the phone rings and someone gives you the news that your singer, your friend, your former roommate, your resident torture genius in your band, the reluctant voice of a generation, the heavily depressed and drug addicted Kurt Cobain is dead. But then they call back and surprise, he's alive. It was just an overdose or a suicide attempt. No one's really sure. But the point is, he survived. But then, 36 days later, on April 8, 1994, the call comes again, but this time with more finality. Kurt Cobain is gone for good, and the grief is as immeasurable as it is impossible to get a hold of. It snakes around inside of you. It's both elusive and intrusive. The only defense is movement work. And then another call, this one from none other than Tom Petty. The Tom Petty, the man who'd been pummeling America with hit after hit stretching back to the 1970s. There was an empty drum stool behind Tom on the soundstage at NBC's Saturday Night Live studio. And oh man, wasn't that exactly what Dave Grohl needed? Dave with Tom Petty's Heartbreakers on national television, fit like a glove, and not the cheesy kind Vic Firth made for drummers, the kind Steve McQueen wore while he whipped around Laurel Canyon on his Triumph motorcycle. Dave Grohl playing drums for Tom Petty made all the sense in the world, but at the same time, it made no sense at all. Tom offered Dave the gig full time. Dave needed to think about it. There were the demos to consider, the songs he'd been working on with Barrett Jones, the producer Dave worked with with alongside the Melvins under the pseudonym Dale Nixon. Dave was as inspired by those new songs as he was frightened by them. It was Dave out front, not behind the kid, center stage on mic and playing everything. Guitar, bass, drums and singing. Dave Grohl told Tom Petty there was a dream he needed to run down, and then he headed into the studio by himself. He had seven days to record an album of songs. He tracked four songs a day, every day, for four days straight. He took one day to record vocals, a couple days to mix, and on the seventh day the burgeoning rock God rested and the Foo Fighters were born. At first, those songs amounted to just a demo tape for Dave's friends to hear what he was up to after Nirvana. But in no time, Dave had a record deal. A band was put together to bring the songs on tour. Dave tracked down Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith, the rhythm section from Sub Pop, Sunny Day Real Estate. Soon Pat Smear from the Germs, who had joined nirvana back in 1993, was asked to join the Foo Fighters for their live shows. The Foo Fighters first record took off. A follow up was needed. Dave went back into the studio but this time with a band. But that was just the problem. Or at least part of the problem. The drums were wrong. William Goldsmith couldn't deliver what Dave Grohl was hearing in his head. So Dave re recorded all the drums and the Foo Fighters monster second album, the Color and the Shape, was done. A glorious rock and roll statement. Dave Grohl wasn't just the guy from Nirvana. And the Foo Fighters wasn't some one off solo vanity project. It was a band. A band fronted by one of the greatest rock and roll drummers ever. A drummer who sang and played guitar, fronting a band that now needed a drummer. Because Dave Grohl was also an inexperienced bandleader who, as he sang on the Color and the sheet, sometimes got stuck between the handshake and the fuck. William Goldsmith was out. He couldn't get over having his drum parts replaced, could you? But Dave Grohl knew a guy, another rock and roll animal, a man who could not only keep up with Dave Grohl behind the kit, but a man with a spirit and charisma that somehow equaled Dave's own. Enter Taylor Hawkins, Dave Grohl's reverso world rock and roll twin. Dave came from hardcore, Taylor from Alanis Morissette, but still they rocked. Dave referenced the Pixies, Taylor Queen, but still they rocked. Dave wrestled melodies, Taylor wrestled rhythm, but still, well, you get it. Theirs was a match for the books. Too good to be true. Taylor Hawkins incredible playing and presence was rocket fuel for Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters ambitions. The first album Taylor played on, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, went platinum. And then in 2001, Dave Grohl got another phone call. This time it was about Taylor. We'll be right back after this. Word, word, word. 2001. Hollywood, Sunset, Marquee Hotel. Dave Grohls at the bar, fresh out of band practice with his buds in Tenacious D, Jack Black and Kyle Gass's comedy rock band, which Dave was generously donating his drumming skills. Drumming, a constant source of joy and sometimes source of anxiety for Dave Grohl. Finding a drummer not just to replace William Goldsmith, but essentially to replace what Dave himself had done in the studio behind the kit was no easy task. Until it wasn't. Taylor Hawkins appeared like one of those mirages in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, out of nowhere and almost too perfect to be true. Taylor understood the mission. To be the biggest, most badass rock and roll band on the planet. To bridge the gap between sweaty hardcore DIY basement club energy and arena rock energy. Something that hadn't really been done before. Drumming was the mortar to build that bridge. After departing from Alanis Morissette's band and joining the Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins told Spin magazine in a 1997 cover story that in preparation for the Foo Fighters nightly six hour practices, quote, you have to be an athlete to play these drum parts. And that I play really hard. And that's the key to playing drums for Dave role. You've got to beat the out of the drums. His approach was spot on, and so was his vibe. Taylor Hawkins exuded rock star energy on and off stage. Effortlessly. Dudes wanted to be him and women wanted. Well, you've heard the cliche. So here he was, bellied up to the bar at the Sunset Marquee, on the receiving end of drink after drink from Hollywood's most beautiful women. Dave Grohl was not intimidated. He understood his role. Once a drummer, always a drummer. Theirs was a strange dynamic. A drummer with frontman good looks and a frontman with an iconic drumming pedigree. And both with charisma to spare. Dave set his gaze upon one of the friends of one of the bombshells competing for Taylor's attention. A beautiful blonde. You're my future ex wife, he told her. She wrote her number down on a scrap of paper and signed it Jordan, your future ex wife. After an on again, off again courtship, Dave was eventually smitten and a new girl to complete this new incredible life was now part of the picture. But then, in London, while the Foo Fighters were on tour, the phone rang. Taylor Hawkins was in a coma. Heroin. The traumatic string out back to Kurt was obvious and Dave spiraled. He prayed in the streets. On his walks back from Taylor's hospital to his hotel room, he contemplated quitting music altogether if this was the cost. Two dead bandmates, the Foo Fighters, after days experience with skyrocketing rock and roll fame in the late 90s, had a list of do's and don'ts. The list of do's play great shows, write great songs, start at the bottom and work your way up organically. And there was only one Don't. Don't do heroin. Taylor Hawkins didn't listen. But thankfully, Taylor Hawkins survived. Dave Grohl put the Foo Fighters on the shelf for a minute and joined Queens of the Stone Age to record their excellent album, Songs for the Deaf. He was unsure whether the Foo Fighters would continue. Prior to Taylor's overdose, Pat Smear had quit the Foos. Franz Stahl from Dave's old band Scream replaced him. Franz fit on stage, but not in the studio, Franz was asked to leave the band. He was replaced by Chris Shiflett from no Use for A Name. Chris's hardcore punk scene experience made him a natural fit. Pat Smear was calling Dave Pat, kinda sort of maybe wasn't going to be upset if Dave asked him back in the band. Chris was understandably freaked out. What the hell kind of band was this? Was it even a band? Dysfunction and a revolving door of band members aside, the answer to that question was a loud yes. Not only were they a band, the Foo Fighters were now a band with three Grammys that had graduated to playing arenas. 2002, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Dave Grohl was splitting duties as drummer for Queens of the Stone Age and as frontman for Foo Fighters for what Dave Taylor, Nate and Chris thought might be their last show ever. But it wasn't. They killed and they reminded themselves of what they had together. They went back into the studio and came out with the Grammy winning album One by One with hits Times like these in All My Life. They followed that up with the 2006 album in youn Honor and an acoustic tour, which was Pat Smear's ticket back into the band, not to replace Chris Shifflett, but instead to play alongside both him and Dave. The band's next record, echoes Silence, Patience and Grace, now with an expanded lineup that included not only Pat Smear but Ramy Jaffe on Keys, proved that the Foo Fighters were no longer just a loud band that sometimes played acoustic sets. Now, like the biggest of the rock gods before them, Led Zeppelin and Queen, to name a few, the Foos seamlessly incorporated ballads and power not only into their shows, but into the same songs. They were ready. Not for arenas, not for festivals, for stadiums. Wembley Stadium Stadium. 85,000 people sold out two nights. Then another great record, Wasting Light, followed up by Sonic Highways and Concrete and Gold. The only thing that could slow the band down was a global pandemic, which happened in 2020. After that, the Foo Fighters were one of the first major acts to get back on the road, headlining a stadium show in Australia on March 4, 2020. 2020, two more dates were added. A festival in South America. And that's where Dave Grohl was, in Bogota, Colombia, when his phone rang. In the beginning, there was only music. A kick drum pounding to the rhythm of a heartbeat. Voices in the crowd shouting along with the band. Guitar riffs ricocheting off the walls of the club. Total harmony. But then some new sound sounds entered the concert. Loud, rapid ones. They ricocheted off the walls just the same. And then they pierced through flesh, not music. Gunfire. Terrorists tour through the Bataclan Theater in Paris without a second thought. Three gunmen, three reloads each, maybe four. Three minutes of a police assault, 10 hours of sorting through dead bodies. And in the end, there was no music, just silence. The Eagles of Death Metal concert ended too early. On November 13, 2015, an attack during the show claimed the lives of 90 fans. Paris burned with fear, grief, exasperation. That was in 2015 at the Bataclan Concert Hall, a venue attacked by Islamic State terrorists in what has come to be known as the Paris Attacks. As a result of that tragedy, numerous concerts were canceled, including Foo Fighters concerts. Earlier that year. Dave Grohl had broken his leg on stage and was forced to perform subsequent shows seated on an epic throne made of guitars. But two shows were canceled. Because of this. The insurance companies that insure big ticket concert events like Foo Fighters shows reduced the amount of money they believed the Foo Fighters were owed. Now, I'm not going to go into all the details here, because I didn't get into this line of work to bore people to death with insurance payout policy talk, but basically, it's like this. Remember that time you got a bill from the hospital for like $5,000 or whatever, and you were like, cool, I've got insurance. I'm all set. The insurance company's going to pay the five grand. But then the insurance company was like, wait a minute, hold up. We're only going to pay 2,000, and you have to pay the rest because, well, you see, we looked into what happened to you and decided that the nature of your injury didn't conform exactly to what our policies. You're out three grand. Now kindly go fuck yourself. And you're like, shit, where am I gonna get $3,000 to pay these monsters? Well, that's kind of what the insurance companies did to the Foo Fighters. Except it wasn't over paying the band for medical bills. It was about paying the band for the money they lost from being unable to perform for reasons beyond their control. Terrorism and a broken leg that happened in the line of work. The exact types of reasons a band insures their concerts for. For. And it wasn't over five grand. It was over millions and millions of dollars that the Foo Fighters were now on the hook for. And I know what you're saying, oh, boo hoo, Dave Grohl's rich. So what? He didn't get to buy another rocket ship or whatever. But that's not the point. Bands like the Foo Fighters employ hundreds of people. Not just the band, but their crew, the roadies, the techs, the truck drivers. And these people are working stiffs. And if the band doesn't get paid, these folks don't get paid. Why should Dave Grohl and his band have to go into their pockets to do the right thing and pay these folks while the greedy insurance companies continue to get rich by screwing their customers? So the Foo Fighters sued their insurers, and they must have had Lloyds of London over the barrel, because Lloyds of London eventually settled. Which brings us to bogota, Colombia. In 2022, the Foo Fighters were in South America to headline a festival. The show was canceled due to weather and the band was spinning its wheels in a Bogota Four Seasons hotel with nothing to do. Fans were gathered outside and Taylor Hawkins was among them, hanging out, taking time to pose for a photo with a 9 year old female fan who was also a drummer who had lugged her kit down to the street outside the hotel to bang out Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohl beats on her drum set. And by Taylor's estimation, she was pretty damn good. But Taylor was antsy. And it wasn't just because he was trapped in a hotel in a foreign country with nothing to do. Friends of Taylor's, including ex Soundgarden and then Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, told Rolling Stone magazine that Taylor had expressed to Dave Grohl prior to those 2022 tour dates that he could no longer keep up, saying, quote, he had a heart to heart with Dave. And yeah, he told me that he couldn't fucking do it anymore. Those were his words. In that same Rolling Stone article, unnamed representatives for the Foo Fighters denied that Hawkins ever raised these issues, saying, quote, no, there was never a heart to heart or any sort of meeting on this topic with Dave and Silva artist management. So who's lying and why? And why does this matter? On the issue of who's lying, Matt Cameron came out against this Rolling Stone article after it was published, saying, my quotes were taken out of context and shaped into a narrative that I had never intended. Okay, what about the quotes from Taylor's other friends in the article who support what Cameron had said? Were their quotes taken out of context to shape a narrative as well? I've read the article many times, like, very closely, and here's what I think that Rolling Stone magazine did something. It no longer does that often anymore. Actual music journalism. And a bunch of people who spoke to Rolling Stone's reporters didn't like how the article turned out. And cried foul. Just because you don't like how the chef cooked your steak, it doesn't mean that it's not steak. But okay, why does this matter? It matters because after Taylor Hawkins allegedly expressed to his band leader and boss that he wanted to pull back on touring and was reportedly, as the Rolling Stone magazine claims, via an unnamed source, given assurances that the band would have a lighter schedule going forward. The band did not have a lighter schedule. They had 60 gigs on the schedule, plus a one off in Australia. This all after playing 40 shows the year prior, including a gig in December at which Taylor Hawkins friends allege that Taylor collapsed. Collapsed on a plane. Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith said that Taylor, quote, was exhausted and collapsed once again. A rep for the Foo Fighters denied this, but according to Rolling Stone, Chad Smith went on to say that Taylor told him, quote, I can't do it like this anymore. Chad Smith also denounced how his comments were represented by Rolling Stone magazine. Okay, but facts are facts. All these sources, friends of Taylor Hawkins went on record to state that the drummer felt he could no longer continue with the band due to their extensive touring responsibilities. One of them claimed that Taylor had collapsed from exhaustion during this time period. Another, an unnamed source, claimed Taylor was given assurances that the band would have a lighter schedule. But the facts proved that the band did not have a lighter schedule, just the officer opposite. How's this for another fact? Taylor Hawkins revealed in 2021 that his doctor told him he had an enlarged heart. His heart was enlarged not from being unhealthy, but from being too healthy, from bashing the shit out of the drums behind Dave Grohl for 60 shows a year, from practicing for six hours, six nights a week. From being a fucking athlete. The average age for an athlete to retire, by the way, is 29 years old. In 2022, Taylor Hawkins was 50 years old. And yeah, sure, rock and roll drummers like Taylor's heroes, Roger Taylor from Queen and Stuart Copeland from the Police are still performing at ages 76 and 73, respectively. And the Rolling Stones as Charlie Watts tore it up until he died at the age of 80. But these drummers were from a different generation, and they played a style of music way less physically demanding than the drumming required to perform in the Foo Fighters or in most big rock bands from the 90s. We are entering unknown territory here as drummers like Taylor Hawkins and Chad Smith and Matt Cameron look to the future to figure out how they're going to continue their careers on the road. They can't look to the past for a roadmap. Because what's being demanded of them physically at their age has never been demanded of any drummer before. Based purely on the style of music they play, compared to the less aggressive style of music played by aging classic rock drummers, there simply isn't a precedent. These drummers are the first to get there and the first to attempt to keep up with their bandmates at an age that makes it nearly impossible. All due respect to Roger Taylor, Stuart Copeland, and the late great Charlie Watts, but there's no fucking way any of them could have pulled off a Foo Fighters gig past the age of 49. And by the way, in 2025, Matt Cameron quit Pearl Jam for this exact reason. Back to what I believe are the facts. Taylor Hawkins collapsed after a performance in 2021. Taylor Hawkins had an enlarged heart. Taylor Hawkins believed playing in the Foo Fighters was taking a toll on him physically and that he couldn't keep up with the touring demands of the band. Taylor Hawkins wanted to pull back on his touring responsibilities, and he told Dave Grohl this. Allegedly, some sort of agreement was reached where Taylor was given assurances that his touring responsibilities would be lessened. Foo Fighters representatives never confirmed that Taylor Hawkins collapsed, and the reps adamantly deny that a meeting took place where Taylor expressed his misgivings about touring or that any such assurances were given that he would be allowed to tour less. And the Foo Fighters showed no signs of slowing down. Instead, they went to Bogota, and Taylor Hawkins died in his hotel room on March 25, 2022, and over 40 booked Foo Fighter shows were then canceled. Their drummer had passed away with a lot of drugs in his system. If. If we're to believe the Columbia Attorney General's office. The preliminary toxicology report states that Taylor had a mix of 10 different substances in his system, including opioids, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and marijuana, among others. This report is, as I said, preliminary, and there was never a final report. What are they waiting for? The reincarnation of John Bonham? It's not happening. Give us the damn report. Also, guys, this is Columbia, okay? You think our government institutions are corrupt? It's a whole other ball game of corruption down there, but okay, sure. What incentive would the Columbia Attorney General's Office have to lie about an American rock n roll drummer's fatal drug intake? I don't know. But the result is we don't have a final toxicology report on Taylor Hawkins death. And we also still don't have an official cause of Death for Taylor Hawkins. Four years after he died. I'll say that again. It's been four years and there's still no official cause of death for one of the most famous drummers on the planet. This makes no sense. I suppose if Taylor was getting high and that was how he died, you could understand how his bandmates, management and friends would circle the wagons to protect his reputation, given that he was a husband and a father and. Well, one could easily make the case that none of this is any of our fucking business. But this is the 21st century. This isn't the 1950s. People suffer and die from addiction every day. Rock stars and celebrities every year. And we are more understanding and forgiving and empathetic of this disease than we've ever been. So the shame argument doesn't make sense. Also, I'm not even close to convinced that Taylor actually overdosed from using drugs recreationally. I know 10 substances in the system sounds like somebody getting freaky with his chemistry set, but the way people self medicate these days, 10 substances in one system is a lot. Yes, but it doesn't necessarily mean someone was partying. Also, again, we're talking about Colombian government. Government officials here. After his death, it was revealed that Taylor Hawkins heart was twice the size of a normal heart. It weighed 600 grams. An enlarged heart can be caused by chronic high blood pressure, which can be caused by physical overexertion. It can also be caused by over relying on substances. Physical overexertion, a reliance on substances. Why won't the Foo Fighters or anyone else put these pieces together and declare an official cause of death for one of the greatest drummers to ever do it? Maybe, and I'm just speculating here, maybe a known physical condition and a reliance on chemical substances are the exact types of extenuating circumstances that insurance companies like to exploit in case of like this to get themselves off the hook from having to pay artists for canceled shows, which is a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan and this is disgrace. All right, thanks for checking out this episode of Disgraceland on the Foo fighters. Hit me up. 617-906-6638 voicemail and text to let me know how you think Taylor Hawkins died. What the official cause of death actually is. We can debate it on the after party. 617-906-6638 voicemail and text at the script on the socials if you want to DM me. Disgracelandpodmail.com want to send an email? Leave a review for the show? You want to help us grow all right, here comes some credits. Disgraceland was created by yours truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis, the Exactly right network in iHeart podcasts. Credits for this episode can be found on the show notes page@gracelandpod.com if you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And if not, you can become a member right now by going to Disgracelandpod.com Membership members can listen to every episode of Disgraceland ad free, rate and review the show and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook Disgracelandpod and on YouTube@YouTube.com Gracelandpod Rocka Rolla
