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The 1960s musician Dave Grohl thought was in his own universe: “A religious experience
Dave Grohl has spoken about how David Bowie, though rarely cited among his usual punk and rock influences, was one of the reasons he took up drumming in the first place. Speaking as part of the "David Bowie Is" interview series, the Foo Fighters frontman named Let's Dance as his favourite Bowie record and described the singer's otherworldly, ever-shifting persona as unlike anything else in rock music at the time, saying it felt as though Bowie "was not from this planet".
Grohl later worked with Bowie, performing at his 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden in 1997 and contributing session drumming in Los Angeles, discovering along the way a warm sense of humour behind the public image, including jokey emails and a "Happy New Year" message sent in June. He recalled Bowie once remarking he was "running out of birthdays", a comment that only made sense after Bowie's death from cancer in 2016, and shared an embarrassing memory of clumsily critiquing Bowie's "imperfections" after gushing over his performance at the Phoenix Festival.
In short
- Bowie's Let's Dance inspired Grohl to become a drummer
- Grohl later befriended and played with Bowie in the 1990s
- Bowie hinted at illness before his 2016 cancer death
Explained simply
David Bowie was a British singer and songwriter whose career began in the 1960s. He became known for changing his musical style and public image, and for songs including “Let’s Dance”, released in 1983.
Dave Grohl is an American musician who became known as the drummer for Nirvana before fronting the Foo Fighters. Bowie’s music helped inspire him to take up drumming, and the two later performed together and worked on recordings. Bowie died of cancer in 2016.
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