Dave Grohl recalls the 'beautiful' moment his daughter asked about Kurt Cobain
He spoke to Dave Berry on the Absolute Radio Breakfast Show
Last updated 6th Oct 2021
Celebrating the release of his new book ‘The Storyteller’, Foo Fighters legend Dave Grohl joined Dave Berry for a chat on the Absolute Radio breakfast show this morning (5th October).
Alongside speaking in-depth about ‘The Storyteller’, Dave reflected upon the 30th anniversary of Nirvana’s seminal second album ‘Nevermind’ and how his children Violet, Harper and Ophelia are huge fans of the band.
“It feels like lifetimes ago, I feel like I've lived a few lifetimes since then,” Dave said of the ‘Nevermind’ landmark. “I don’t necessarily feel any different than I did then. I was 22 when that record came out. And you know I feel 22 until I look in the mirror and then I go ‘oh I am not 22 anymore’
“To me Nirvana really was three people, with some instruments that made a big noise. And we drove around in vans, and we played in clubs, and we did things like that and then it became something else. So, I look at Nirvana much differently than someone else might, but it's become such a big part of popular culture so everywhere I go I see it.”
Dave went on to explain that he found it difficult to listen to Nirvana in the wake of Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994, however his children have now helped him return to the band’s music.
“There was a long time when a song would come on and I would just turn it off,” Dave said.
“I don’t want to hear that. It would bring back lots of difficult memories but now I'll be driving with my kids in the car now and a Nirvana song will come on and they will start singing it and they know the words, and we don’t listen to it at home but somehow it's become a part of their lives now and its cool.”
Reflecting upon “a really beautiful moment” when ‘Come As You Are’ came on the radio while driving with 12-year-old daughter Harper, Dave said: “(Harper) said ‘dad, how old were you when you were in this band?’ I said, ‘well I was probably 21 or 22 when we recorded it.’ And then she said, ‘what was Kurt like?’. I said, ‘he was really sweet, you know he was kind of shy, a little reserved and could be sort of quiet’.
“She said, ‘was he shy to people he didn’t know or to people he did know?’, and I said, ‘well a little bit of both’. She said, ‘wow that’s really interesting that someone that could be so shy could write these songs and stand in front of hundreds of thousands of people and sing them’, and I thought what a beautiful insight for a 12-year-old.
“She was asking me about my life then because she wanted to understand it through the music.”
You can check out footage of Dave discussing ‘The Storyteller’ below, including what inspired him to write it and what the toughest parts of the book were to write.
Foo Fighters hit the UK in summer 2022 for stadium shows in Manchester, Birmingham and London. You can still get tickets to the Thursday 30th June concert at London Stadium from Absolute Radio Tickets right now.
Dave Grohl will read the 2013 book Octopus’s Garden, written by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, on the CBeebies Bedtime Story this Friday (8th October) at 6.50pm.
Kurt Cobain's life in pictures:
Kurt’s childhood home in Aberdeen, Washington
His parents Wendy and Donald Cobain bought the house in 1969 when Kurt was two and he lived there until they separated when he was nine.
Kurt with younger sister by three years Kimberly in the mid 1970s
Kurt celebrates a childhood birthday with his family
Kurt and Kimberly stand outside their Aberdeen home
When their parents split in 1976, Kurt went to live with his father and Kim lived with her mother.
Showcasing an early talent for music, Kurt plays piano at his childhood home
Kurt’s attic bedroom pictured in 2013
More than a quarter of a century after Kurt last habited the room, his graffiti – including an Iron Maiden logo – still adorns the walls.
Led Zeppelin graffiti Kurt penned on his bedroom wall
An Aberdeen Junior High School photo of a young Kurt Cobain
A teenage Kurt at his Washington home
Kurt playing guitar in his attic room
His walls are decorated with Black Flag and hardcore punk band Dr. Know gig posters.
May 1986: Kurt was arrested aged 19
He was arrested for trespassing on an abandoned building in Market Street, Aberdeen. He was also arrested a year earlier for spray painting on pick-up trucks.
1991: Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl in London
August 1991: Nirvana perform at Reading Festival
September 1991: A 'Nevermind' launch show at New York’s Tower Records
5th November 1991: Kurt onstage at Nirvana’s sold-out gig at The Astoria Theatre in London
November 1991: Kurt crowdsurfing in Frankfurt, Germany
1991: Kurt at Hilversum Studios, Holland
1991: Kurt at Hilversum Studios, Holland
August 1992: The Kerrang! Magazine cover featured a very sombre Kurt
It included a play on The Smiths lyrics 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'.
December 1993: A second Kerrang! Magazine cover
16 months later and the tone of the cover is very different with the title: 'Hugs Not Drugs! Kurt Gets Happy!'.
1992: Kurt performing live in a maid’s outfit
1992: Nirvana at the MTV Video Music Awards
August 1992: Nirvana’s legendary Reading Festival performance
9th April 1993: Kurt on-stage with Nirvana at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California
Appearing alongside L7 and The Breeders, the gig was a Bosnian Rape Victim Benefit.
July 1993: Performing at the Roseland Ballroom, New York
1993: Kurt with his wife Courtney Love and one-year-old daughter Frances Bean at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles
Kurt and Courtney married in Hawaii in March 1992 with Kurt infamously wearing his pyjamas to the ceremony!
1993: Kurt at the MTV VMAs ceremony, Los Angeles
1993: At the 10th annual MTV Video Music Awards
Nirvana pose with director Kevin Kerslake after receiving an award for best alternative video for 'In Bloom' at the 10th annual MTV Video Music Awards.
Kurt pretends to pick his nose with daughter Frances Bean
November 1993: Recording Nirvana’s legendary MTV Unplugged session
December 1993: Performing at MTV Live and Loud, Seattle
February 1994: Live at The Palace, Melbourne
25th February 1994: Nirvana live at Palatrussardi indoor arena in Milan Italy
Their last ever gig took place at Terminal 1 in Munich, Germany six days later.
April 1994: Kurt Cobain dies
171 Lake Washington Blvd East Seattle, Washington, the site of Cobain's death.
16th April 1994: The Kerrang! Magazine cover, 11 days after the Nirvana’s legend’s untimely death
The Sonic Youth t-shirt Kurt wore at Nirvana’s final live performance in Munich, March 1994
The garment was auctioned at the Hard Rock Café in London in July 2012.
2011: A small park in Aberdeen was named ‘Kurt Cobain Landing’ in Kurt’s honour
This plaque quoting Something In The Way lyrics overlooks the Wishkah River.