Despite selling over 75 million records worldwide and cementing themselves as one of the most successful bands of all times, Dave Grohl has shared that he believes Nirvana still had plenty of unfulfilled potential prior to Kurt Cobain’s death.
Grohl, the former drummer of the band has spoken on his Medicine At Midnight Radio podcast about Cobain’s tragic death and has gotten nostalgic about what may have been for Nirvana had the frontman not passed away.
“The shows were getting bigger. The crowds were getting bigger. The crowds outside of the shows were bigger than the crowds inside the shows. We could see that something was happening, but we really never expected that it would turn out to be as big as it was. I don’t think any of us expected that.”
The world was shaken to its core when, after a very public struggle with substances and mental health problems, Cobain passed away on April 5th, 1994, from suicide. Grohl, Pat Smear (guitarist) and Krist Novoselic (bassist) were understandably distraught and decided that Nirvana couldn’t continue without Cobain.
Speaking of their time together, Grohl said that Cobain’s death affected him deeply.
“Of course, [Cobain’s death] was an incredibly challenging experience, and ultimately one of the greatest heartbreaks of my life that Nirvana isn’t still here today making music, whether it would be called Nirvana or something else.”
“It is one of my life’s greatest heartbreaks that Kurt isn’t still here to write more amazing songs because it’s pretty clear that he was blessed with a gift. I think it’s safe to say that he was the greatest songwriter of our generation. I’m very proud to say that I got to be his drummer and play those songs every night.”
Love Classic Rock?
Get the latest Classic Rock news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
Over a year after Cobain’s death, Grohl founded the Foo Fighters, which began as just a one man band. After filling into a full band Foo Fighters have gone on to achieve colossal international success since 1995.
Earlier this month Grohl shared that the social dynamics in Foo Fighters are much more cohesive than they ever were in Nirvana.
“But personally it [Nirvana] was a bit off, to be honest,” Grohl explained. “Of course we loved each other. We were friends. But, you know, there was a dysfunction in Nirvana that a band like Foo Fighters doesn’t have.”
