Although he found it uniquely devastating at the time, Dave Grohl has explained that in the long term, the death of his Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain has helped him to appreciate the value of his own life more.
Speaking to CBS , the Foo Fighters frontman opened up about the death of his old friend and explained how Kurt’s passing gave him a new perspective on life.
“When Kurt died, I remember the next day and thinking, ‘I still get to live.’
“So I’m going to live everyday like it’s my last one. Even if it’s the worst day, I’m gonna try to appreciate it.”
Grohl went on to add, “And I still feel that way. I never wanna die. I honestly feel like if get to do this, and I’ve got these beautiful kids… I’m all good. That’s how I feel.”
The stickman made the comments after a recent gig at the CalJam Festival in October which saw him reunite with Nirvana bandmates Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear. The trio was joined by special guests Joan Jett and John McCauley for a rendition of six classic Nirvana songs.
The setlist comprised of “Serve The Servants,” “Scentless Apprentice,” “In Bloom,” “Breed,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and “All Apologies.”
Obviously, if Kurt Cobain hadn’t died, history would have been different. It’s doubtful Nirvana would still be around and if they were, they’d probably sound a lot different to the band that launched a thousand copycats.
Of course, there was no question of Nirvana carrying on without Cobain to chart the course and lead the way. He was, after all, the heart and soul of the band.
When Cobain’s candle flickered out, Grohl and Novoselic decided to call it a day, which was a wise decision.
Other bands such as AC/DC managed to carve out a new beginning for themselves following the death of legendary hellraiser Bon Scott, but the Aussie rockers are pretty much unique.
The band was originally going to hang up their guitars but Scott’s parents persuaded them their son would want them to continue. Enter Brian Johnson stage left and a new chapter began with the classic album Back in Black .
However, like Jim Morrison and Freddie Mercury before him, Kurt Cobain’s shoes were too big for any successor to fill. Both the Doors and Queen struggled on in vain for a few years following the deaths of their iconic frontmen.
In the wake of Cobain’s death, Nirvana was no more but Grohl formed Foo Fighters and went on to rock a thousand stadiums.