Dave Grohl had to take a crash course in learning how to become a frontman when he began life with Foo Fighters. It was never his intention to lead a band, the decision to form the group was born out of tragic circumstances, and he never expected them to grow into what they are today.
Working with Kurt Cobain in Nirvana was an apprenticeship for Grohl, even if he didn’t know it at the time. Night after night, the drummer had the best seat in the house to watch Cobain’s craftsmanship, but as a frontman, he’s always been his own man. Trying to emulate his former bandmate was too close to the bone and never of interest to Grohl.
Grohl is always trying to learn and improve, even though Foo Fighters have been going strong for almost 30 years. For Grohl, no matter what other people think, he’ll never be the greatest frontman of all time, a title he believes belongs to Queen’s Freddie Mercury.
Foo Fighters regularly covered ‘Somebody To Love’ in their live sets, with the late Taylor Hawkins doing his best Mercury impression while Grohl deputised on drums. Brian May was flattered by the cover and said to Planet Rock: “That was always a shock to me because he (Hawkins) seemed to be a lot cooler than we were. I think Taylor Hawkins single-handedly made Queen cool to a new generation. He knew everything about us… everything!”
