Smells like survival spirit: Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl remembers a condolence message that helped him

(Left to right) Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl being interviewed in 1991 by Kurt St Thomas for WFNX in Boston. (Photo: Julie Kramer via Wikimedia Commons 4.0)

Former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl is a personable rocker. In fact, he has been called the ‘nicest man in rock’, a world where it is not considered cool to be nice. Surliness at everything and everyone is the norm.

There was a time, however, when Grohl lost his sunny disposition. It was in 1994, after the shocking death of Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain.

The young rockers were successful beyond anyone’s expectations. ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was a global anthem of the angst-ridden. But Cobain, addicted to drugs, beset by health problems, and struggling to handle fame, took his own life. He was 27.

I know you don't feel like playing music now. But you will. And it'll save your life.

What helped Grohl find the strength to rise up again and start a new band was the message in a condolence card he received.

“Well, when Kurt died, it turned our world upside down. It's hard to imagine life going on,” Grohl recently told the BBC at the launch of his memoir, The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music.

“Someone actually sent me this card after he died that said, ‘I know you don't feel like playing music now. But you will. And it'll save your life’. And although it didn't click at the time, I finally came to this realisation that I was fortunate to be alive, so I should probably take advantage of that by doing the one thing that I love to do - playing music. And it saved me.”

The new band was Foo Fighters. Created in 1994, it has made a success out of itself and is still active.

Grohl said Foo Fighters was a "representation of the continuation of life" for him. “It really helped me through a lot of heavy stuff,” he said.

Such are the challenges of hitting the big time that Grohl feels concerned for artists when they become successful.

“We were kids (when Nirvana became a rage). I was 22, Kurt might have been 23 or 24,” Grohl told BBC. “I think each of us processed it in our different ways. Whenever I felt overwhelmed I would just go back to Virginia, where I grew up, and I'd have barbecues with friends and reconnect with my mother. That always seemed to ground me. But it's a lot for anyone to handle. Still to this day when I see a new artist that's becoming popular, my initial reaction is concern. It's not an easy thing to find your way through that unscathed.”

(Photo: Roger Woolman via Wikimedia Commons 3.0)

Nirvana lasted just four years, but their ‘Nevermind’ was one of the greatest albums in music history. It sold around 30 million copies worldwide. Rolling Stone ranked it at no. 6 in its list of 500 best albums, published in 2020.

All these years after his death, Cobain has an estimated net worth of around $500 million, although he himself did not live long enough to experience his fortune. Grohl and Novoselic are estimated to be worth $300 million and $80 million, respectively.

September 24 marked the 30^th anniversary of the release of ‘Nevermind’. The group had no idea it would become such a commercial and popular success and continued to operate as a talented but indie act, driving around in a van and playing small underground clubs.

“I think we played a show in Toronto (on the day ‘Nevermind’ released),” Grohl remembered. “When that album first came out, the expectations weren't that high, so we were playing venues that held maybe 100, 200 people. But once the video for ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was released, maybe a week later, things started to explode. By the time we finished that tour, there were, like, riots and we'd have to run out of places. It got pretty crazy.”