DAVE GROHL - WPAP COLLECTION

David Eric "Dave" Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. Grohl began his music career in the 1980s as the drummer for several Washington, D.C.-area bands, including the hardcore punk band Scream. In 1990 he became the drummer for grunge group Nirvana. Following the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in April 1994, Grohl formed Foo Fighters as frontman and songwriter. In addition to leading Foo Fighters, Grohl has also been involved in other musical projects, including Queens of the Stone Age and his heavy metal side project Probot, and has performed session work for a variety of musicians, including Killing Joke, Tenacious D, Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy and Slash. Most recently, Grohl formed Them Crooked Vultures with Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, Eagles of Death Metal) and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin).

As a child, his family (father James Grohl, mother Virginia Wendt, and older sister Lisa) relocated from Warren, Ohio, to Springfield, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Three years later, when Grohl was six, his parents divorced, and Grohl grew up living with his mother. His early influences also involved tutorials in drumming from "Treasures of the Earth" drummer Timothy Aldridge.

At the age of twelve, Grohl began learning to play guitar. He quickly grew tired of lessons and instead became self-taught, honing his ability by playing in bands with friends. Soon he became guitarist for the punk rock band Midtown. A year later in 1982, Grohl and his sister spent the summer in Evanston, Illinois at their cousin Tracy's house. Tracy introduced them to punk rock by taking the pair to shows by a variety of punk bands. "From then on we were totally punk," Grohl explained. "We went home and bought Maximumrocknroll and tried to figure it all out."

In Virginia, Grohl attended Thomas Jefferson High School as a freshman and sophomore. He was elected vice president of his freshman class and played bits of songs by bands like the Circle Jerks and Bad Brains over the school intercom before his morning announcements. During his junior year, Grohl and his mother decided that he should transfer to Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria because his cannabis usage was affecting his grades. He attended Bishop Ireton as a junior and a partial year as senior from 1984-1986.

While in high school, Grohl played in several local bands, including a stint on guitar in a band called Freak Baby. While playing in Freak Baby, Grohl again became self-taught on another instrument, after teaching himself to play drums on pillows, as his house was too small for a drum set. When Freak Baby kicked out its bass player, Grohl decided to switch to drums, and the new band called themselves Mission Impossible. During his developing years as a drummer, Grohl cited John Bonham as his greatest influence, and eventually had Bonham's three-circle logo tattooed on his wrist. Mission Impossible later rebranded themselves Fast before breaking up, after which Grohl joined the post-punk-influenced hardcore punk band Dain Bramage.

Grohl has been married twice. He was first married to photographer Jennifer Youngblood from 1993 to 1997.^[3] After their divorce, Grohl had relationships with Louise Post from Veruca Salt, solo artist and Hole bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur, and pro-snowboarder Tina Basich.

He then went on to marry his second wife, Jordyn Blum on August 2, 2003, at their home in Los Angeles. Guests included Clive Davis, Jack Black, and former Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic. On April 15, 2006, Grohl and his wife welcomed their first child, daughter Violet Maye, in Los Angeles. She was named after Grohl's maternal grandmother. Earlier that year, Foo Fighters bandmate Taylor Hawkins told MTV, "We're going to be touring Europe in January and February, but we've got to be home by March, because Dave and his wife are having a baby," he said, adding, "but I probably wasn't supposed to tell you that." Grohl said that he had been playing music to his unborn child, saying "she 'likes' The Beatles. Doesn't really get down to The Beach Boys. Digs Mozart." On April 17, 2009, Grohl and his wife welcomed their second child, daughter Harper Willow.

In May 2006, Grohl sent a note of support to the two trapped miners in the Beaconsfield mine collapse in Tasmania, Australia. In the initial days following the collapse, one of the men requested an iPod with Foo Fighters album In Your Honor, to be sent down to them through a small hole. Grohl's note read, in part, "Though I'm halfway around the world right now, my heart is with you both, and I want you to know that when you come home, there's two tickets to any Foos show, anywhere, and two cold beers waiting for yous. Deal?"^[26] In October 2006, one of the miners took up his offer, joining Grohl for a drink after Foo Fighters acoustic concert at the Sydney Opera House. Grohl wrote an instrumental piece for the meeting, which Grohl pledged he would include on the band's next album.^[28] The song, titled "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners," appears on Foo Fighters' latest release Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and features Kaki King. [ Literature by Wikipedia | 2010-06-24 ]