Grohl and the bassist were asked to perform with Iggy, and it was a life-changing moment for Grohl.

One fateful night, Grohl and Scream happened to be at the same club where Iggy Pop was performing. Today, Grohl knows it is all worth it and looks back on these times fondly. He worked odd jobs to get by, often living in a van and eating little to nothing. He toured the world with Scream as their drummer, developing close bonds and staying with various punk rockers along the way. His mother permitted him, warning that better become good at it, and Grohl dove headfirst into music. Although he is still not sure if the exercise worked or not, he asserts that some things in life require unwavering faith and that music is one of those things.Īt age 17, Grohl dropped out of school to join Scream, a punk rock group for which he auditioned. As a teenager, Grohl set up a shrine dedicated to John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin, and prayed that he would one day become a successful musician.

Here, Grohl relays the importance of perseverance and courage in the music industry, and how much sacrifice and pain are required to be the musician he wants to be. Grohl draws a connection between his tendency toward physical strain and an incident where he ended up playing a Foo Fighters concert in a cast after breaking his foot on stage. Grohl’s childhood was a typical 1970s, American-suburban childhood in Virginia, complete with BB guns, fishing trips, and plenty of injuries. After the breakup, Grohl realized that his true love in life is music and that he did not need Sandi or anyone else as long as he had his guitar. Next, Grohl recounts a memory of Sandi, the first girl he fell in love with and who broke his heart.

As an adolescent, he was introduced to punk music through his cousin and a Naked Raygun concert, and immediately developed an interest in the musical genre. He recalls how his mother took him to a local jazz club, and it was there that he first became inspired to play music himself. Grohl sees himself in his daughter’s passion and also remembers the way his mother helped him first discover music Grohl emphasizes the circular nature of life and how traits like a passion for music seem to be passed on from generation to generation. His memoir begins with an anecdote about his daughter, Harper, who desperately wants to learn to play drums. Grohl’s memoir follows a loose, chronological timeline, maintaining a thread from his youth to the present while drawing parallels between memories and experiences of the distant past with those that have occurred recently. This study guide uses the 2021 Dey Street first edition of the book.

The storyteller dave grohl