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American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and director Dave Grohl is best known as the former drummer of Nirvana and the front man and guitarist of the Foo Fighters. He has been in the music industry for too long before he decided to form the group Foo Fighters. He was able to accumulate a massive net worth of $350 million thanks to his expansive experience in the music industry. Take a look at how he started in the music industry and how he built his music business.
Dave Grohl's Early Life And Early Musical Inclination
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Dave Grohl, whose real name is David Eric Grohl, was born on on January 14, 1969 in Warren, Ohio. He is the son of James Harper Grohl who is a news writer and Virginia Jean who is a teacher. Grohl is of Slovak, Irish and German descent. His father is a renowned writer and was even awarded as a journalist and also served as a special assistant to Senator Robert Taft Jr. His father was very busy at work which somewhat resulted to divorce. His parents divorced when he was only seven years old and he was eventually raised just by his mother.
When Grohl was around 12 years old, he began learning how to play the guitar. He initially enrolled at a music school however he got tired of lessons and eventually just taught himself how to play the instrument. Soon after, he has started playing in bands with some of his friends. When he reached the age of 13, Grohl and his sister spent some time at their cousin’s house in Illinois during the summer. Their cousin then introduced them to punk rock when he took the siblings to some shows which are headlined by punk bands.
Joining Scream
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In 1982, Grohl attended his first concert where he watched Naked Raygun at The Cubby Bear in Chicago. Grohl even stated that was the time they got into punk rock music. While he was in high school, he started incorporating his love for punk music to their school intercom by playing some music pieces by Bad Brains and Circle Jerks before his morning announcements. At the time, Grohl’s use of cannabis has been negatively impacting his studies so his mom decided to transfer him to another school. During his high school days, he decided to learn how to play the drums. He did not take any drumming lessons and instead taught himself how to play it by listening to some punk rock bands like Rush. His early influence at the time is Rush drummer Neil Peart.
In 1986, when Grohl turned 17 years old, he auditioned for the local favorite band at the time called Scream to fill their vacancy after their drummer Kent Stax left. At the time, he wanted to join the band so bad that he lied about his age because his actual age did not make the cut. Eventually the band chose him to replace Stax and he decided to drop out of high school while he was still in junior year. Over the next four years, he toured with the band extensively while also recording some live albums and two studio albums. He wrote the song Gods Look Down which was released on the said album. However just after four years of being with the band, they unexpectedly disbanded while in the middle of a tour after the bassist Skeeter Thompson left.
Dave Grohl's Career With Nirvana And Foo Fighters
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While Grohl was playing for the Scream, he became a massive fan of Melvins and eventually befriended them. When the Scream was on a tour stop at the West Coast, Melvins guitarist Buzz Osborne took and Krist Novoselic and Kurt Cobain of Nirvana to watch the Scream. The three friends were impressed so when the Scream disbanded and Grohl asked Osbourne for some advice, he mentioned that Nirvana is looking for a drummer. Grohl contacted Novoselic and Cobain and the two invited him to audition in Seattle. He passed the audition and joined the band. He then spent his first few months with Nirvana traveling to different record labels to shop for the best deal for their demos. They eventually landed a sweet deal with DGC Records and signed with them.
Their first ever release as a group was the album Nevermind released on 1991. The album became a worldwide commercial success and gave them the recognition they deserve. The group went on to record some albums and went on some tours through the years. At the time, Grohl was also recording his own songs and materials. He even released some of it through indie label Simple Machines. However he did not used his name and instead used a pseudonym "Late!". Through the years, aside from being the drummer of the band, his contributions to the band’s songs increased. Cobain heard him working on the song Color Pictures of a Marigold and they eventually worked on the song until it was finished. In 1994, the group is having their European tour and scheduled a session time at the Robert Lang Studios in Seattle to work on some of their demos. At the time, Cobain is missing in action so Grohl and Novoselic worked on their own songs. Cobain showed up on the third they and they recorded the song You Know You're Right which ended up being Nirvana’s final studio recording. Cobain was later on found dead in an apparent suicide by self-inflicted shotgun.
After the death of Kurt Cobain, Grohl retreated as he was unsure of what to do. After a few months, he decided to schedule studio time at the Robert Lang Studios to record fifteen-track demo. Initially Grohl tried joining other band as their drummer. He went on to perform with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers which included a performance at the Saturday Night Live. However he declined when he was asked to be the permanent drummer for Petty. Grohl had some solo plans so he did not accept the invitation. He eventually decided to form his own group and this time, he will take on as the lead guitarist and the lead singer. He recruited touring Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear, William Goldsmith on drums and Nate Mendel on bass who are both from the recently disbanded band called Sunny Day Real Estate. Grohl believed in his own group and decided to start his own label called Roswell Records in 1995. The said label has been releasing and producing all of the works and albums of Foo Fighters where he was able to bank hundreds of millions.
Massive Success Of Foo Fighters
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The group then used Grohl's demo and which were mixed by Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf. It was released in July 1995 as the band’s self-titled debut album called Foo Fighters. The band went on to become one of the most successful American alternative rock bands even today. The band became a massive success and they are still together until today. They have released ten studio albums and went on to receive recognition from different music legends as well.
As of today, the band’s album sales totaled to about 11.1 million worldwide. Majority of his $350 million fortune came from his music career with Foo Fighters. As the owner of the record label which produces all the albums and songs of Foo Fighters, he has gained a massive fortune as well following the massive success of the band.
Sources: Dont Die Wondering, Celebrity Net Worth, People
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