The 1968 Beatles album Dave Grohl and Rick Rubin agree is their greatest
Musicians Dave Grohl and Rick Rubin have separately named The Beatles' 1968 self-titled record, commonly known as The White Album, as their favourite release by the band. Their shared pick highlights how the album's raw, individualistic style has come to be regarded as a high point in The Beatles' catalogue, even though it diverges from the polished pop sound that first made them famous.
Grohl praised the album's diversity, citing tracks such as 'Blackbird', 'Revolution #9', 'Revolution' and 'Helter Skelter', and remarked on how dramatically the band's sound had evolved since their earlier hits. Rubin, meanwhile, focused on the record's unpolished, personal quality, noting that it sounds like the work of four distinct individuals rather than a unified group, with each Beatle's style clearly audible. Both drew on their own musical backgrounds—Grohl's post-Nirvana reinvention and Rubin's experience as a producer attuned to artists' individual voices—to explain the album's enduring appeal.
- Dave Grohl and Rick Rubin both name The White Album their favourite Beatles record.
- Grohl praised its variety, citing 'Helter Skelter' and 'Blackbird'.
- Rubin liked hearing each band member's distinct individual style.
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The Beatles released their self-titled album, widely known as The White Album, in 1968. It followed the more experimental, studio-heavy sound of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and marked a shift towards a rawer, more stripped-back style, with the four band members increasingly working on songs individually rather than as a unified group.
Dave Grohl, best known as the drummer of Nirvana and later frontman of Foo Fighters, and Rick Rubin, a veteran record producer who has worked with a wide range of major artists, have both named this record as their favourite Beatles album. Their comments have drawn attention because two influential figures from very different corners of the music industry have arrived at the same conclusion about a record that departs from The Beatles' more famous, polished pop hits.
The story matters mainly to those interested in music history and how tastes around The Beatles' catalogue have shifted over time. It touches on a long-running discussion among musicians and critics about whether the album's unpolished, individualistic character is a flaw or the very thing that gives it lasting artistic value.