WEBVTT - Foo Fighters: How Did Taylor Hawkins Die? 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:13.080 Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. There are many 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:17.480 insane stories about the Foo Fighters, and you've likely heard 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.959 most of them, and that's because Dave Grohl himself is 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.720 an incredible storyteller. But there are a few stories that 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:28.680 the band doesn't want told. Chief among them how their 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:33.800 drummer Taylor Hawkins died, more specifically, the story behind the 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.760 curious fact that it's been four years and we still 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.320 don't have an official cause of death for one of 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:43.239 the greatest drummers who ever lived. Why not? I have 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.320 some ideas, and none of them take away from the 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:49.960 fact that Taylor Hawkins and the Foo Fighters made great music. 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:52.600 Unlike that music, I've played a few at the top 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:55.760 of the show that wasn't great music. That was a 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.200 not so preset loop for my melotron called ROMI has 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:04.680 Two Trons MK one. I played you that loote because 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:08.200 I can't afford the rights to heat Waves by Glass Animals, 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:11.400 And why would I play you that specific slice of 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.039 I don't even know what to call that, geez? Could 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:18.160 I afford it? Because that was the number one song 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:22.440 in America on March twenty fifth, twenty twenty two, and 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:26.119 that was the day that Food Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died, 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:30.440 creating one of the most unexplainable and recent mysteries in 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:35.200 rock and roll. On this episode, the Incredible Story of 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:39.760 Dave Roll, Dave Groll's incredible story telling great rock and 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:43.080 roll in the mystery behind the death of Food Fighters 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:49.200 drummer Taylor Hawkins. I'm Jake Brennan, and this this disgrace slams. 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:16.800 Dave Grohl is commonly referred to as the nicest guy 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:20.600 in rock and roll. It's a descriptor that Dave himself 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:24.560 reportedly doesn't like. However, the Foo Fighters front man and 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:28.040 former drummer for Nirvana and DC hardcore band Scream, has 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.840 been on our radios and screens and in our record 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:34.480 bins for the past three decades, entertaining us in some capacity, 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:37.280 either on stage, in front of the microphone, behind the 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:41.160 drums on record, or answering some interviewers questions with his 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:44.040 four on the floor charisma and his toothy smile and 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:47.480 well earned confidence, and well, he sure seems like a 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:51.160 nice guy. I've never met Dave Grohl, but I have 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:53.080 a lot of friends who have, and every single one 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:56.400 of them says the same thing. Yes, he really is 0:02:56.800 --> 0:03:02.880 that dude. At the moment, that dude, Dave Grohl is everywhere. 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:06.760 It seems. He's all over our feeds, in short clips 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.160 and in memes, the former from his Zane Lowe Apple 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:14.880 Music conversation, the latter from his Guardian newspaper interview. In 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:17.799 both cases, he's promoting the new Foo Fighters album Your 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:21.320 Favorite Toy, the band's twelve full length LP, and it's 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:24.960 first with new drummer Elon Rubin, and carefully talking around 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:28.760 the more controversial subjects from his in the Foo's recent past, 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:31.400 namely the bust up between the band and their most 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:35.240 recent drummer, Josh Freese. Punk Rocks Jim Gordon, a dude 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:37.560 who has played with a who's who of rock, punk 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:41.320 and pop, from The Vandals to Katie Perry, Devo, Weezer, 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:45.840 Bruce Springsteen, Maya, Rudolph, Guns N' Roses, Joe Strummer, Paul Westerberg, 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.560 The Offspring and a gazillion more and now nine inch Nails. 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:53.840 Freeze toured with the Foo Fighters from twenty twenty three 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:58.640 to twenty twenty five, and Josh Freese was understandably butt 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:01.360 heard about being kicked out of the band, posting on 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:04.840 Instagram in May twenty twenty five that the band called 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:06.600 him in to let him know that they were quote 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:10.600 going in a different direction unquote. He claimed that no 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:14.440 actual reason was given for his firing, and Freeze went 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:16.600 on to say that it was the first time he'd 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:19.320 been fired from any gig in his forty year career, 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:23.640 and that he was shocked and disappointed. Dave Grohl describes 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.520 the conversation that the band had with Freeze, the one 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:28.960 where they let him go, in typical nicest guy in 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:33.279 rock and roll fashion, as follows. Basically, we called Josh 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.159 and we were like, hey man, that was awesome. That 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:38.880 was such a blast, Thank you so much, but we're 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:42.960 gonna move on and find another drummer. After the dust settled, 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:46.200 Freeze went on a passive aggressive rant on Instagram, listing 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:50.160 with at least some humor, the quote ten possible reasons 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:54.360 joshka booted, the joke apparently being what reason could there 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:57.200 possibly be to actually fire Josh Freeze from any band, 0:04:57.240 --> 0:04:59.640 much less the Foo Fighters, a band that Freeze would 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:04.040 eventually claim wasn't music that I resonated with. After all that, 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.600 Dave Grohl told Zane Lowe. I think Josh said it 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:09.880 best when he said that he didn't feel our music 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:15.080 really resonated with him, and that's really important. And then 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:18.000 there's a topic of Dave Grohl's recent Baby Mama drama. 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:22.120 It's a most unchill modern rock and roll controversy, one 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:25.200 that has caused culture vultures and fans alike to question 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:30.280 Grohl's nice guy reputation. On September tenth, twenty twenty four, 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:34.440 the post appeared on Girl's personal Instagram page, saying quote, 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.839 I've recently become the father of a new baby daughter 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:41.480 born outside my marriage. I planned to be a loving 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:45.039 and supportive parent tour. I love my wife and my children, 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:47.680 and I'm doing everything I can to regain their trust 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:51.520 and earn their forgiveness. We're grateful for your consideration toward 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:57.280 all the children involved as we move forward together. Dave ouch, 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.400 hearing this sucked as a fan, but it's hard to 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:06.240 complain again as a fan knowing how hard this must 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.360 have been to hear for the four women in Dave 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.599 Gorohle's family, his wife and three daughters. So I don't 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:13.760 really want to talk about it, and neither is Dave 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:18.120 grol understandably. That said, part of the point of these 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.360 recent interviews that Grole has done seems to be to 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.599 let everyone know that he's spending a lot of time 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:28.440 working on himself, going to therapy six times a week. 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:32.320 Are you kidding me? If anything would make me insane, 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:35.360 it would be talking about myself in in ten sessions 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:37.640 for six out of the seven days in a week. 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:40.640 I can't imagine what this process for Dave Grohl is like. 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.240 This is a guy whose entire mission in life has 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.680 been for the past thirty years to rock our faces 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:51.000 off and to bring joy through his music to millions 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:55.080 of fans across the globe. Sitting on a couch, turning inward, 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:57.880 talking to a therapist about the things in one's life 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:01.000 that have nearly destroyed you seems it's like the opposite 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:03.359 of what Dave Grole was put on this planet to do. 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:08.240 Dave Grohl is supposed to stand, not sit and on stage, 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:11.800 not in a comfy chair, and destroy us, not talk 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:16.960 about what's destroying him. Dave Grohl is a rock star. 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.320 As a fan, I don't want to hear about Dave's 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.720 problems or how he's dealing with them. I want to 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:26.480 feel him melt my face with this hardcore arena rock 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:31.280 animal from Electric Mayhem Energy. But I'm no utopian. I 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:33.320 get it. Nothing is as it seems. And if you 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:35.160 can't always get what you want, love the one you're 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:39.360 with or whatever that's saying is. But what I'm trying 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:42.520 to say is Dave Grohl understandably needs to do whatever 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:45.800 Dave grol needs to do for himself, his family, and 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:49.000 for his public persona, and then keep himself wired together 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:52.000 enough to continue bringing joy on stage and on record. 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:54.880 And this, for better or worse, is where we're at 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:57.520 with this dude, after three decades with him in our lives. 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:01.840 To his credit, Dave Grohl has confronted his infidelity in 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:04.840 these recent interviews within the context of his recent therapy, 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:08.520 at least saying I have to be perfectly honest. Writing 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:11.600 songs and writing lyrics about these things is sometimes enough 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:14.680 as far as having a deeper, longer conversation about them. 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:16.400 I still do reserve a lot of this for my 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:20.200 own personal life. That's totally fair. I kind of wish 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:23.440 he'd reserve it all for his personal life. But there 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.320 is this rabid beast called public opinion, and the beast 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:30.760 must be fed. It's clear Dave does not want to 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:32.880 talk about this moment in his life, and who among 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:34.920 us would. But this is just a moment that he's 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:36.760 got to get through, and he will, and in another 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:38.960 three hundred and sixty five days and in another three 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:41.959 hundred and sixty five news cycles, we will barely remember 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:44.679 any of this because by that time Sean Diddy Combs 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:50.599 will be president or something equally ludicrous. Then there's the 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:54.439 subject of Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins's death, the third 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.480 consequential subject that Dave Grohl and everyone involved with the 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:00.960 Foos clearly doesn't want to talk about. In fact, the 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.120 subject of how Taylor died just well, it doesn't even 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:06.880 come up anymore, not in the pop music discourse, and 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:10.000 most certainly not in recent Dave Girl interviews or in 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:13.320 interviews with other members of the Foo Fighters, which is strange. 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:18.080 Taylor Hawkins died on March twenty fifth, twenty twenty two, 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:21.040 a full four years ago, and we still don't know 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:26.920 how he died. Is this pop music's greatest unsolved mystery? No, 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.280 far from it. It's just that no one seems to care. 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:33.560 Make that make sense? This wasn't the drummer for some 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:36.040 random rock band struggling to make ends meet out there 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:39.120 on the road. This wasn't some faceless session drummer either. 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:43.360 And this wasn't even Josh Freeze. This was Taylor fucking Hawkins, 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:45.920 one of the most charismatic, larger than life drummers of 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:48.319 the twenty first century, a man whose unique presence and 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:51.240 talent behind the kit was challenged by very few, but 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:54.240 most ironically by a dude in his own band, Dave Grohl. 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:59.080 And now he's gone, and we don't know why? Why not? 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.000 You know how Keith Moon died overdosed in Harry Nilson's 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:06.199 London apartment. We know how John Bonham died. He choked 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.320 on his own vomit. Why don't we know how this 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:13.080 latter day drumming icon died. Go ahead and google how 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:17.360 did Taylor Hawkins die? The response you get will be 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:17.960 the following. 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:22.200 Taylor Hawkins died on March twenty fifth, twenty twenty two, 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:26.080 at age fifty in Bogatah, Columbia, due to a cardiovascular 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:30.280 collapse following a reported chest pain emergency. A preliminary urine 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:37.280 toxicology test found ten different substances in his system, including opioids, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:40.720 and THHC, though an official final cause of death was 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:42.000 not publicly released. 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:46.560 Okay, so he overdosed on drugs and died, right, well, 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:50.240 go ahead and google, did Taylor Hawkins die from an overdose? 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.199 The Google Gemini response you'll get will be the following 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:56.679 excerpt from a Variety article from twenty twenty two, around 0:10:56.720 --> 0:10:59.040 the time of Hawkins's death, which says. 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:02.360 As of late March twenty twenty six, an official cause 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:05.200 of death has never been released for Foo Fighters drummer 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:10.480 Taylor Hawkins. While investigators found substances in his system, authorities 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.520 in Columbia have not officially classified his death as a 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:14.479 drug overdose. 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:19.040 Okay, now Google, is there an official cause of death 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:22.959 for Taylor Hawkins? And the response you will get is no. 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:26.560 An official finalized cause of death for Foo Fighters drummer 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:29.400 Taylor Hawkins has never been publicly released. 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.439 I don't get it. What are they doing? Are they 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:37.800 trolling the conspiracy theorists here? Why hasn't an official cause 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:40.719 of death ever been released? If you want an ice 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:42.480 cream headache, you can go ahead and google that one. 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:44.760 But I'm gonna try to answer that question in this 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.880 episode while at the same time telling you the story 0:11:47.880 --> 0:12:09.920 of nice guy Dave Grohl and the Mighty Foo Fighters. 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:22.280 Dave Grohl is a great drummer, sure, and songwriter and frontman, 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:27.160 but his greatest talent may be as a storyteller. We've 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:29.920 all seen him back in the day on MTV disarming 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:33.280 a nervous interviewer in some comfy late night chair, blowing 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.120 the minds of the host and studio audience, talking shit 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:40.080 to some podcaster, stunning some morning drive DJ, all with 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:44.640 jaw dropping story after jaw dropping story featuring him. Dave Grohl, 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:46.760 the nicest guy in rock and roll, right there at 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:49.960 the center of our rock and roll fantasy. There's the 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:52.480 one about Dave meeting Lemmy from Motorhead for the first time, 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:55.880 and that time Dave made a pilgrimage to Pantera's Strip Club. 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.920 Then there are all those stories about Dave experiencing some 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:01.640 sort of UFO, and and there's that time he drank 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:04.200 forty cups of coffee in one day, got chased by 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.960 knife wielding junkies in Amsterdam, broke his leg on stage 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:10.200 in Sweden, and returned with a doctor at his side 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:11.920 to hold the bone in place so he could finish 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:15.160 the show for his fans, and my favorite Dave showing 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:17.000 up on the set of The X Files and talking 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:20.160 his way into a role as an extra. It's not 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:24.119 just the wild experiences that make these tales so interesting, 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:28.480 it's the way Dave Grohl tells these stories. He's a natural. 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:32.920 Songwriters are, of course, storytellers, and the best of the 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.200 best know this and use one talent to enhance the other. 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:40.600 And Dave Grohl seems hyper conscious of this skill. His 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:45.400 Instagram handle is at Dave's True Stories. His twenty twenty 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:50.240 two memoir is titled Storyteller. My point is, what the 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.280 hell am I doing? If there's no way I'm going 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:55.680 to do Dave Grohl's story or the story of the 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:59.200 Foo Fighters justice. Nobody can tell Dave's story as well 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:02.600 as Dave himself. But maybe I can fill in some gaps, 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.240 some narrative drum fills, if you will. Nothing over the top, 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:09.920 not so much Bron Dailer from Mastadon, but perhaps something 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.040 a bit more Levon Helm from the band, Just some 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:15.720 thoughtful emphasis to round out the story the front man 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:19.360 is telling because, like I said, there's no telling Dave 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:22.920 Grohl's story. Like Dave Grole, but like the punk rock 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.760 snobs who only vibe on the first two Foo Fighters records. 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:28.800 They're self titled nineteen ninety five debut in nineteen ninety 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:31.040 seven's the color and the shape. When it comes to 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:35.520 Dave Grol, the storyteller, I prefer his early stuff, going 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:38.480 all the way back to the Melvins, the Pacific Northwest 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:41.680 sludge heroes, to Nirvana, the heaviest band on the planet 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:45.560 since Black Sabbath, a band whose leader King Buzzo's nineteen 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:48.920 ninety two self titled solo effort features a spoken word 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.640 rant by a little known musician at the time, credited 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:55.200 in homage to Black Flag as Dale Nixon, but known 0:14:55.240 --> 0:15:00.640 to his friends in and around Seattle as Dave Grohl. So, 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.800 Dave was in Olympia. He was staying at this guy, 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:07.280 Kurt's house, a new friend of his. He was a 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.720 singer in Day's new band, Nirvana. They were just starting 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:13.680 with their second album, never Mind, and everything was going 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:18.040 pretty good. Kurt. He was writing these great new songs. 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:21.840 It within a couple of months, never Mind came out, 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:22.160 you know. 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:25.520 And I guess radio DJ's really liked it or something, 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:28.440 because they were constantly playing Nirvana and giving him lots 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:31.160 of love making the money, you know, and Kurt was 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:33.080 constantly harassed by the press. 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.920 It was always getting high heroin the bad stuff. You know, 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:40.080 he was in bad shape. The spotlight just got hotter. 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:42.400 Kurt was really hurt, and I don't think he knew 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:46.840 about fame before, but he had other demons, I suppose. 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:11.000 So Dave was sitting on his couch now in his 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:12.440 La apartment and he. 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.200 Was reading you know, Maximum Rock and Roll and Flip 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:15.680 Side or. 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.200 One of those pulp things, and he hears the phone ring. 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.080 There's a guy on the other end of the line, 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:21.240 really going on. 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:24.640 Kurt was in Rome, Kurt was in some hotel. He 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:28.600 was really really doing bad. You know, he looked bad. 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:29.400 Too, you know. 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:30.000 On the phone. 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.040 The guy puts his cards on the table and whatever. 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:39.080 Davi's is reading his little punk magazine, but he's paying attention. 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:43.479 He says, uh, he says, Kurt's dead. 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:47.680 Dave hangs up, and he's standing there with the phone 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:50.600 in his hand, and he hangs up like but that. 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:55.280 The phone rings again, and Dave finally answers it and 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:56.600 Dave doesn't know what to think. 0:16:56.880 --> 0:17:00.960 Dave says, is Kurt Cobaine really dead? And the guy says, no, 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:10.159 I think he's alive. Imagine that. Imagine you're in the 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:13.080 biggest band on the planet, as Dave Grohl was in 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:16.400 nineteen ninety four in Nirvana, a band that had come 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:19.480 out of nowhere from Olympia, Washington by way of Seattle, 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:23.840 to outseell Michael Jackson to completely change the pop music 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:27.960 game and music forever in your Dave Grohl, a twenty 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:30.520 one year old hardcore kid from Virginia who just a 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.240 few months earlier was playing in the DC hardcore band's 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:36.560 Scream and living in Squalor, crashing on a friend's floor 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:39.320 in La So insisting on a diet a convenience store, 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:42.359 hot dogs and canned beans. And then you join Nirvana, 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:45.040 and you make an incredible album, not just an incredible 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:49.120 album musically, but one of those albums that changes music, 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:54.600 that changes culture. Nirvana's never Mind, which Let's be honest, 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.880 was strengthened because of the addition of Dave Groll's drumming 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:02.280 that inimitable hardcore heaviness that Neanderthal disco is. Dave called 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.840 it Part Black Sabbathsville Ward, part Sheeks Tony Thompson. Never 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:10.800 Mind changed how kids listened to music, how they consumed music, 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.080 how they dressed, how they thought. And now now you're 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:16.560 Dave and you're hanging out with friends in sunny La 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:19.480 one afternoon, and the phone rings and someone gives you 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:22.040 the news that you're singer, your friend, your former roommate, 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:25.280 your resident torture genius in your band, the reluctant voice 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.160 of a generation, The heavily depressed and drug addicted Kirk 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:33.280 Cobain is dead. But then they call back and surprise, 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:37.200 he's alive. It was just an overdose or a suicide attempt. 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:39.760 No one's really sure, but the point is he survived. 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:43.760 But then, thirty six days later, on April eighth, nineteen 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:46.239 ninety four, the call comes again, but this time with 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:52.679 more finality. Kirk Cobain is gone for good, and the 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:56.520 grief is as immeasurable as it is impossible to get 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.320 a hold of. It snakes around inside of you. It's 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:04.119 both a loose and intrusive. The only defense is movement work. 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:09.040 And then another call, this one from none other than 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:12.560 Tom Petty. The Tom Petty, the Man who'd been pummeling 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:15.800 America with hit after hit, stretching back to the nineteen seventies. 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:18.240 There was an empty drum stool behind Tom on the 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:21.560 sound stage at NBC Saturday Night Live Studio, and oh man, 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:25.800 wasn't that exactly what Dave Grohl needed. Dave, with Tom 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:30.320 Petty's Heartbreakers on National Television fit like a glove, and 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:33.119 not the cheesy kind Vic Firth made for drummers, the 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:36.159 kind Steve McQueen wore while he whipped around Laurel Canyon 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:40.320 on his Triumph motorcycle. Dave Grohl playing drums for Tom 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:42.679 Petty made all the sense in the world, but at 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:46.560 the same time, it made no sense at all. Tom 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:49.560 offered Dave the gig full time. Dave needed to think 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:53.119 about it. There were the demos to consider, the songs 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:55.960 he'd been working on with Barrett Jones, the producer Dave 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:59.199 worked with alongside the Melvins under the pseudonym Dale Nixon. 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:02.480 Dave was as inspired by those new songs as he 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:05.720 was frightened by them. It was Dave out front, not 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:12.000 behind the kid, center stage on mike and playing everything guitar, bass, 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:16.440 drums and singing. Dave Grohl told Tom Petty there was 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:18.479 a dream he needed to run down, and then he 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:22.200 headed into the studio by himself. He had seven days 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:25.480 to record an album of songs. He tracked four songs 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:28.680 a day every day for four days straight. He took 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:31.480 one day to record vocals, a couple days to mix, 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:34.840 and on the seventh day, the burgeoning rock god rested 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:39.240 and the Foo Fighters were born. At first, those songs 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:41.600 amounted to just a demo tape for Day's friends to 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:44.040 hear what he was up to after Nirvana, But in 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:46.520 no time, Dave had a record deal. A band was 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:49.399 put together to bring the songs on tour. Dave tracked 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:52.440 down Nate Mendel and William Goldsmith the rhythm section from 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:57.120 Subpop's Sunny Day Real Estate. Soon Pat Smear from the Germs, 0:20:57.200 --> 0:21:00.280 who had joined Nirvana back in nineteen ninety three, to 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:03.560 join the Food Fighters for their live shows. The Foo 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:07.080 Fighters first record took off. A follow up was needed. 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:09.800 Dave went back into the studio, but this time with 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:12.800 a band. But that was just the problem, or at 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:16.720 least part of the problem. The drums were wrong. William 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:20.200 Goldsmith couldn't deliver what Dave Grohl was hearing in his head, 0:21:20.600 --> 0:21:23.440 so Dave re recorded all the drums and the Foo 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:26.840 Fighters Monsters second album, The Color in the Shape, was 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:31.600 done a glorious rock and roll steaming Dave Grohl wasn't 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:34.960 just the guy from Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, wasn't 0:21:35.000 --> 0:21:38.879 some one off solo vanity project. It was a band, 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:41.840 a band fronted by one of the greatest rock and 0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:45.879 roll drummers ever, a drummer who sang and played guitar, 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:50.240 fronting a band that now needed a drummer because Dave 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:54.520 Grohl was also an inexperienced bandleader who, as he sang 0:21:54.560 --> 0:21:57.760 on The Color in the Shape, sometimes got stuck between 0:21:57.760 --> 0:22:02.200 the handshake and the fuck. William Goldsmith was out. He 0:22:02.240 --> 0:22:05.119 couldn't get over having his drum parts replaced, could you. 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:10.760 But Dave Grohl knew a guy, another rock and roll animal, 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:12.960 a man who could not only keep up with Dave 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:15.520 Grole behind the kit, but a man with a spirit 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:20.280 and charisma that somehow equaled Dave's own enter Taylor Hawkins, 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:26.880 Dave Grole's reversal world rock and roll twin. Dave came 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:31.720 from hardcore, Taylor from milanis Morris Set, but still they rocked. 0:22:32.520 --> 0:22:37.280 Dave referenced the Pixies Taylor queen, but still they rocked. 0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:42.359 Dave wrestled melodies, Taylor wrestled rhythm, but still well, you 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:45.960 get it. Theirs was a match for the books, too 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:49.880 good to be true. Taylor Hawkins's incredible playing in Presence 0:22:50.119 --> 0:22:53.679 was rocket fuel for Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters' ambitions. The 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:56.600 first album Taylor played on, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, 0:22:56.840 --> 0:23:02.000 went platinum. Then in two thousand and one, Dave Grohl 0:23:02.080 --> 0:23:06.960 got another phone call. This time it was about Taylor. 0:23:11.160 --> 0:23:24.000 We'll be right back after this word word word, two 0:23:24.040 --> 0:23:29.440 thousand and one, Hollywood Sunset, Marquis Hotel, Dave Grohl's at 0:23:29.440 --> 0:23:31.760 the bar, fresh out of band practice with his buds 0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:35.720 and Tenacious d Jack Black and Kyle Gass's comedy rock band, 0:23:35.840 --> 0:23:40.360 which Dave was generously donating his drumming skills. Drumming a 0:23:40.400 --> 0:23:43.760 constant source of joy and sometimes source of anxiety for 0:23:43.880 --> 0:23:48.000 Dave Grohl. Finding a drummer not just to replace William Goldsmith, 0:23:48.040 --> 0:23:50.679 but essentially to replace what Dave himself had done in 0:23:50.680 --> 0:23:54.520 the studio behind the kit was no easy task until 0:23:54.520 --> 0:23:59.120 it wasn't. Taylor Hawkins appeared like one of those mirages 0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:02.400 in a bugs bunny car, out of nowhere and almost 0:24:02.520 --> 0:24:06.639 too perfect to be true. Taylor understood the mission to 0:24:06.680 --> 0:24:09.080 be the biggest, most badass rock and roll band on 0:24:09.119 --> 0:24:12.720 the planet, to bridge the gap between sweaty hardcore DIY 0:24:12.760 --> 0:24:16.920 basement club energy and arena rock energy, something that hadn't 0:24:16.920 --> 0:24:20.600 really been done before. Drumming was the mortar to build 0:24:20.640 --> 0:24:24.720 that bridge. After departing from Alanis Morissett's band and joining 0:24:24.720 --> 0:24:27.840 the Food Fighters, Taylor Hawkins told Spin Magazine in a 0:24:27.920 --> 0:24:31.159 nineteen ninety seven cover story that, in preparation for the 0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:34.760 food Fighters nightly six hour practices, quote, you have to 0:24:34.800 --> 0:24:37.840 be an athlete to play these drum parts, un quote, 0:24:37.920 --> 0:24:40.400 and that I play really hard and that's the key 0:24:40.440 --> 0:24:42.840 to playing drums for Dave Grohl. You've got to beat 0:24:42.880 --> 0:24:46.600 the shit out of the drums. His approach was spot on, 0:24:47.200 --> 0:24:50.920