Dave Grohl Tells What Made Him Realize Nirvana Would Be Huge Prior To Joining The Band

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl looked back on the time when he first joined Nirvana during a recent appearance on the Howard Stern Show. The rocker explained how he moved to be in Nirvana without knowing the band members, and revealed the reason behind his trust in the band.

For those of you who might not know, Nirvana wasn’t the first band Dave Grohl played in, since he auditioned for the band Scream at the age of 17. Surprisingly enough, he was asked to join the band, and he dropped out of high school in his junior year to chase his dreams and become a rockstar.

When Scream unexpectedly disbanded mid-tour following the departure of bassist Skeeter Thompson, Grohl had to find another band. That’s when he briefly considered joining GWAR but ultimately decided not to pursue the opportunity. On the bright side, he was informed by a mutual friend that a Seattle grunge band named Nirvana was looking for a drummer.

After talking on the phone with lead singer Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic, the future Nirvana drummer took a leap of faith and flew to Seattle to audition for the duo. He soon joined the band as a full-time member and became the rock legend we all know today.

During a recent interview, he talked about his book, ‘The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music,’ Dave Grohl was asked why he took a leap of faith since he joined them without knowing anything about the members. Grohl revealed that one song from their first record made him realize they had the biggest potential.

It was their third song, ‘About a Girl,‘ from the band’s debut studio album, ‘Bleach,’ released on June 15, 1989. The song is often remembered by fans with its live and acoustic version, which was recorded during the band’s MTV Unplugged appearance in November 1993. According to Grohl, that song was the sign that Kurt Cobain and the rest of the band were worth taking the chance and flying to Seattle.

During the interview, the ex-Nirvana drummer said:

“There was a record before the record, ‘Nevermind.’ Nirvana had a record called ‘Bleach.’ I was the fifth drummer, they had a bunch of drummers. This guy Chad Channing was our drummer and he had left. I knew that record because it was really popular in the underground.

The cool thing about it was like it was noisy like dissonant punk rock cool songs but then there was a song called ‘About a Girl’ in the middle of the record. It sounds like something off of an early Beatles record. It’s like a Lennon and McCartney song. You’re listening to and you’re like, ‘Oh fuck! This kid can do that too? Holy shit!'”

You can watch the entire interview and listen to ‘About a Girl’ below.