The “powerful” songwriting lesson Dave Grohl learnt from living with Kurt Cobain

The incredible talents of Kurt Cobain gave the world so much in such a short space of time. Not only did the songwriter create some of the most iconic tracks of the 1990s with Nirvana, but he also inspired an entire generation of fans to think for themselves and embrace nonconformity. From his humble beginnings in Washington state, Cobain soon became one of the most well-known figures in all of rock music, indefinitely changing the lineage of the genre. His influence cannot be overstated, especially upon his bandmates, namely Dave Grohl.

Grohl is, of course, an intrinsic part of Nirvana’s success story. The young drummer was not an original member of the group, absent from the recording of their debut album Bleach, released by the lauded independent record label Sub Pop. However, when Grohl joined the ranks in 1990, at the age of only 21, he proved to be the last piece of the puzzle needed for Nirvana’s global assault on the musical mainstream.

Being in a globally successful rock outfit at such a young age, especially one as groundbreaking as Nirvana, is inevitably going to alter your life. For Grohl, it soon became obvious that he had found his true calling in the world of rock and roll. The young drummer found deep inspiration in the artistry of his friend and bandmate, once revealing, “Kurt was definitely a big influence and inspiration,” continuing, “Through Kurt, I saw the beauty of minimalism and the importance of music that’s stripped down. That’s more powerful because it’s just so… almost desperate.”

The grunge flame of Nirvana would not last forever, but in 1994, it was cut tragically short by the suicide of Kurt Cobain. With the loss of their close friend and bandmate, you could forgive Grohl and Novoselic for throwing in the towel completely, but that would not fit in with the endless rock and roll obsession of Dave Grohl. Following the abrupt end of Nirvana, Grohl went on to front the incredibly successful Foo Fighters, but he would never lose sight of the influence provided to him by Cobain.

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In fairness, if you wrote a song, took it to the rest of your band, and then one of them burst into something like ‘Lithium’ or ‘All Apologies’, you probably wouldn’t be too eager to follow that up. As Grohl put it, “Why fix it if it ain’t busted?” adding, “I was in awe of what was happening. I was in awe of Kurt’s songs. And intimidated. I felt it was best that I keep my songs to myself.”

As such, when it came to forming the Foo Fighters, Grohl had a wealth of fantastic songwriting to draw upon that had been bottled up throughout his time with Nirvana. With the band, the frontman has strayed somewhat from the grunge stylings of Cobain and Nirvana, but Dave Grohl never lost the inspiration he had received from his old friend and bandmate.