-Our first guest tonight is a Grammy Award-winning musician
and member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
who you know from bands such as Them Crooked Vultures,
Foo Fighters, and Nirvana.
His limited series, "From Cradle to Stage,"
premieres today with new episodes
streaming Thursdays on Paramount+.
Let's take a look.
-♪ Bet you think this song is about you ♪
♪ Don't you, don't you? ♪
-I don't know if I did that right.
-That was awful!
[ Laughter ]
-It just really blew my -- And still to this day.
When I listen to music --
-So I can't understand, then, why you never
got as excited as I did about Manhattan Transfer.
Because that's where their genius is.
That they get -- that they do
four-, five-part harmony
in ways that is really hard to duplicate.
-I don't know, but I used to get high
under that bridge over there.
[ Laughter ]
-Please welcome to the show Dave Grohl.
It's so nice to see you, Dave.
-How you doing, Seth? -I'm doing great.
This is really wonderful, this docuseries, 'cause
this is based on a book that your mom wrote.
She went out and interviewed other musician's moms.
Was this an idea she had on her own?
-Yeah, it was, actually.
So, my mother was a public schoolteacher for 35 years,
and when she retired, you know, I told her -- I'm like,
"Don't do that cruise-ship thing that all retirees do."
I was like -- just -- I have a cruise ship.
I was like, "Jump on the tour bus. Let's go."
And so I took her around the world.
I took her to Australia and Japan and all over Europe.
And in our travels, she was like,
"Where are all the other mothers?
Like, how come other moms don't hang out
at their kids' rock shows, too?"
Which she always had. I mean, she was the coolest mom.
Growing up, she took me to jazz clubs,
and she always came to punk-rock shows.
So she decided to go hunt down all the other mothers,
and she made calls to Dr. Dre's mother
and Pharrell's mother, Miranda Lambert's mother,
and Geddy Lee's mother, all these different moms,
and she interviewed them and wrote a book called
"From Cradle to Stage," and in that book,
she realized that there were these really clear parallels
in all of the relationships
between the mother and the artist.
And then, after the book, we were like,
"Well, let's turn it into a documentary series."
-I mean, the mothers who --
the mothers of rock stars or any musicians,
it's truly amazing how supportive they have to be.
Because even if they loved music,
it's very likely that their children
will make a kind of music
that is not the same as what they loved growing up.
-Yeah. -But you said your mom
came to early shows of yours
when it was maybe not -- -Oh, yeah. She was always there.
I mean, she, like -- You know, I think that --
that, as a parent, you have to understand
and accept and appreciate
your child becoming an individual, right?
And so, with musicians, they usually decide
in between the ages of, like, 11 and 13
that that's going to become their identity.
You know. "I'm a musician." You know?
So it's a parent's job to, like, show them love
and then just get out of the way.
Because that's what their heart --
that's what their heart lives for.
And so that's -- I'm sure -- You know,
my mom wasn't listening to the Dead Kennedys
and Slayer with me every day, you know?
But she did appreciate that, you know,
I was becoming my own person.
And fortunately, she gave me the freedom to do that.
-You -- You are someone who strikes me
as the kind of person who says yes
whenever an opportunity presents itself.
One of the things you've said yes to over the years
is being a musical guest at "SNL"
sometimes with very, very short notice.
-Yeah. Well, I mean -- So I --
One of the great luxuries of my life
is that I've had the honor to play that show --
It's like 14 times or something now.
And so -- But starting in 1992.
So I got to see all of these amazing casts.
Like, I'm not sure when I met you,
but I'm sure it was 15 years ago.
You know? -Yeah.
-So -- So being able, like, to be a part of the show
is something huge, and the process is usually...
your manager calls the publicist,
calls the show, calls the record company,
and it's months and months of preparation.
The last time the Foo Fighters played,
Lorne called on Tuesday and said,
"Hey, do you want to play 'Saturday Night Live'?"
And we said, "Of course! When?"
And he said, "Saturday."
And so we literally, like, loaded our guitars onto a plane,
flew out as fast as we could.
Dave Chappelle was the host.
And it was great to be back again.
But what made it really special was that Saturday,
that morning was the day that they called the election,
and that -- that --
the -- the news
said that Biden was the president.
So the -- the energy in the studio was crazy.
-You did it once with Mick Jagger.
You were the musical --
I'm sorry. You weren't the musical guest.
You were Mick Jagger's band. -Yeah.
That was funny because that day I was --
I was literally sitting on the toilet when Lorne called.
And I answered the phone and I said, "Hello?"
It's like, "Hold for Lorne Michaels."
I'm like, "Oh, my God."
And he's like, "Uh, David, uh, just wanted to call and say --"
He was saying that Mick was going to be the host,
but he didn't have a band.
So he called and asked if we would be his band.
And, you know, of course we said --
I said, "Of course." Like, we're going to be there.
And I looked at my schedule,
realized that we had a show that night.
I think it was in New Jersey.
And so I said, "Okay. I'll make that show go away."
Because there was no way I was missing this opportunity.
I called my manager. He says, "You can't
make that show go away. It's already sold out.
You're the headliner."
So we literally soundchecked at 30 Rock
and then took a helicopter to the gig,
played for 2 and a half hours, took a helicopter back,
were Mick Jagger's backing band on the show,
and then we played the after-party.
Do you remember the after-party?
-That was a fantastic after-party.
-It was the greatest day of my life! It was amazing!
-That's crazy that you were on the toilet
when you got that call
because I remember being on the other side.
Lorne called you from the toilet, as well.
-Interesting. Well, that's how these deals are made.
-Yeah, I remember he came out of his bathroom
and said, "Foo Fighters are in."
[ Laughter ]
-I don't know if you know. We were actually FaceTiming.
I don't -- Did you --
-Oh. So you knew. You knew. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Do you remember who was the host
the first time Nirvana was on the show?
-First time Nirvana was on the show, the host was Rob Morrow.
-Wow. And then the second time?
-...who was from that show "Northern Exposure."
-You guys were on with Barkley once, right?
-Oh, Charles Barkley! That's right!
And I remember --
Our bass player, Krist Novoselic.
Krist Novoselic is 6'8." Okay?
The bass player for Nirvana is very tall.
And I remember when we were doing the promos that, you know,
on the Thursday before the show,
I remember seeing Krist tower over Charles Barkley
and thinking, like, "Okay. Now this is getting weird.
Like, now, this is officially weird."
-Right. Well, it also gives you a real appreciation
for how hard Barkley worked for those rebounds
when he's not even taller than the tallest guy in Nirvana.
There was a long gap between Barkley hosting.
He's done it quite a few times recently.
But I remember him regaling us with stories of the first time
he hosted and saying that he was in his dressing room
when Nirvana was -- when you guys were doing your songs.
And he said, "I was sitting there, and I was like,
'Are they saying "Rape me"?'"
[ Laughter ]
-I do remember one of the promos, his line was,
"Look, Ma. It's Nirvana."
And I was like, "Oh, okay."
-Hey, you guys -- In 2003, you did a show
with Christopher Walken, and you realized
that was a great opportunity because, being fans of the show,
you knew that meant that he would introduce you,
this being the Foo Fighters.
-Yeah, you know, I mean, everybody has their own
Christopher Walken impersonation, and, of course,
we were huge fans from everything, from, you know,
"The Deer Hunter" to "Pulp Fiction."
Like, we just kind of loved the guy.
And he came up to us before introducing us, and he said --
He said...
[As Walken] "The accent. Is it on 'Foo' or 'Fighters'?"
And I knew if I said "Fighters," I knew what would happen.
And, so, the house lights went down,
and the camera hit him, and he said...
[As Walken] "Ladies and gentlemen, Foo FIGHTERS!"
And so that's how we referred --
We refer to ourselves as Foo FIGHTERS,
you know, still to this day.
-Very, very impressive
that you saw that opportunity and took it.
-Always thinking. Always thinking.
-Hey, thanks so much. So excited you're doing music.
And you also -- Real quick --
You have a documentary that you directed.
Another thing that most musicians have in common.
Not just parents who support their music early on,
but life in a van.
And I'm certainly looking forward to seeing that.
Because -- Do you miss -- Do you miss your days in the band?
Because I can think it's probably a little bit
like your youth?
Like, you miss it but also don't want to do it again.
-Well, you know, the great thing about having that experience
is that you sort of rely on that for --
you know, to keep everything in perspective
for all the rewards and things that come after.
But the cool thing about that documentary is that, you know,
I interviewed Ringo and Duff and Slash from Guns N' Roses'
and Steven Tyler and Brian Johnson from AC/DC,
all of these huge rock stars,
but I also interviewed some young bands,
a band called Starcrawler, a band called Radkey.
And, you know, what I realized is that, like,
the kids in Radkey are having the same experience
that the Beatles had when they were their age.
It's a 60-year difference,
but it all comes down to that thing
that makes you throw your life away
and just jump in a stinky van with your friends.
So, yeah. I mean, do I miss it? Sometimes.
Do I -- Do I prefer, you know, a nice G5 every once in a while?
Of course!
-Treat yourself. Hey, thank you so much.
It's always a delight to talk to you, Dave.
"From Cradle to Stage" is available on Paramount+.
And "What Drives Us" is currently streaming
on The Coda Collection channel
exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.