Legendary rocker Dave Grohl celebrates his 52nd birthday today.
The former-Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman has certainly established quite the legacy in the mere 52 years he’s been on this earth. While touring might be paused at the moment, the rocker still kept busy while in quarantine, partaking in viral drum challenges against talented young children, and endlessly teasing the Foo Fighters 10th effort Medicine at Midnight.
As we blast “The Pretender” today in Dave’s honor, here are 10 other weird anecdotes you probably didn’t know about the gruff grunge icon.
His first hero was Jim Craig
Dave Grohl’s first hero was no musician, but rather the legendary hockey player Jim Craig from Worcester, Massachusetts. After the team’s victory against Russia in 1980, Grohl found the phone numbers of every “Jim Craig” in the Worcester area. He called each one of them and congratulated them, hoping one of them would be the legendary goalie. Dave did go on to meet the real Jim Craig many years later at a Winter Olympics.
Dave Grohl was on X-Files
Well he wasn’t really a part of the show so much as he was loitering in the background during a scene. Dave Grohl can be seen walking in a puffy green jacket, his hair pulled back, carrying what looks like a manilla envelope. It turns out David was a big fan of the show during its initial run, so he showed up on set one day asking if he could be an extra.
The first instrument he learned to play was the Trombone
Dave is a self-taught musician, but his first instrument he learned wasn’t the drums or guitar, it was actually the trombone. He took lessons for all of his instruments, but grew tired and bored by the lessons, so he soon transitioned to just teaching himself.
He wanted to be a Helicopter Pilot when he was young
In a now archived interview with Time Out, Grohl admitted that he long dreamed of being a helicopter pilot when he was a young boy. “I’d take the storm windows off our house,” he said, “and set them up in this little cage thing around me. I’d sit and pretend I was in a helicopter.”
He’s creeped out by Japanese Porn
Dave Grohl in 2007 needed to make it clear that he hated Japanese porn. “Japanese hotel porn is creepy because it doesn’t look like anyone is enjoying what they’re doing,” he told The Observer. They make it seem like crime, and I’m not into that.” Nor are we David, nor are we.
He stole something once
When he was around 10 years old, he briefly engaged in a dangerous lifestyle choice: stealing. “I stole some chewing tobacco, it was green apple-flavour Redman chew,” he said to the Melody Maker. “I went into our laundry room and start chewing it and got so violently ill that I never chewed tobacco again.” It seems like he quickly learned his lesson, as that was the only thing he ever stole. “I’m not much of a thief really.”
He’s banned from driving in Australia
In 2000, the rocker was both fined and banned from driving in Australia after he was caught drunk-driving a scooter. “I guess if there’s anything to learn here, it’s don’t drive after a few beers,” the foo frontman later said, “even if you feel entirely capable like I did.”
He was good friends with David Bowie
On the 1997 festival circuit, Dave fostered a warm relationship with the late David Bowie. The rocker later played Bowie’s 50th birthday party. Grohl continued to have a relationship with him throughout his life until his death, and even went on to contribute the drums heard on Bowie’s recorded covers of Neil Young’s “I’ve Been Waiting For You” on 2002’s Heathen.
He saw tiny dinosaurs while on a bad Acid trip
While on a boat from Belgium to England, Dave Grohl decided to pass the time by taking some acid. It turned out to be a bad idea, as Grohl had a terrible time. He spent three hours running in circles and said that “tiny dinosaurs” were trying to nibble on his ankles. “That was f*cked up,” Grohl said plainly of the experience.
He’s a great tipper
When the rocker was in Philadelphia over Memorial Day weekend for a wedding back in 2012, he attended two parties at the Smith & Wollensky bar in the city’s Rittenhouse Hotel. He left not one, but two $1000 tips for the staff, establishing him as one of the nicest guys in rock.
He hates singing competitions
Turns out, Dave is surprisingly not a fan of tv singing competitions. “Who’s to say what’s a good voice, and what’s not a good voice?,” he said in a keynote speech at Austin’s SXSW festival one year. “Imagine Bob Dylan sitting there singing Blowin’ In The Wind in front of Christina Aguilera.” We hear you, Dave.
He broke his leg while in Sweden
In a legendary moment, David Grohl broke his leg while performing in Sweden back in 2015. Famously, he continued and finished the show, although it was obviously shorter than they would have liked it to be. Still, his enduring spirit is exactly why he remains one of the most hardcore rockers ever.
