Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters

David Eric "Dave" Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, director and producer. He is best known as the former drummer for the grunge band Nirvana and the founder and frontman of the rock band Foo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, one of three guitarists, and primary songwriter.

Grohl is the drummer and co-founder of the rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures. He additionally wrote all the music and performed all the instruments for his short-lived side projects Late! and Probot. He has been involved with the rock band Queens of the Stone Age many times throughout the past decade. He has performed as a session drummer for a variety of musicians, including Paul McCartney, Garbage, Killing Joke, Kristeen Young, Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, The Prodigy, Slash, Iggy Pop, Juliette and the Licks, Tenacious D, RDGLDGRN, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Lemmy, Stevie Nicks, Zac Brown Band and Ghost.

David Eric Grohl was born in Warren, Ohio, the son of Virginia Jean (née Hanlon), a teacher, and James Harper Grohl, at the time a newswriter.

He has Slovak, German, and Irish ancestry.

When he was a child, Grohl's family moved from Warren, to Springfield, Virginia. When Grohl was seven, his parents divorced, and he subsequently grew up with his mother.

At the age of twelve, Grohl began learning to play guitar. He grew tired of lessons and instead taught himself, and he eventually began playing in bands with friends.

A year later, Grohl and his sister spent the summer in Evanston, Illinois, at their cousin Tracy's house. Tracy introduced them to punk rock by taking the pair to shows by a variety of punk bands. His first concert was Naked Raygun at The Cubby Bear in Chicago in 1982 when he was 13 years old. "From then on we were totally punk", Grohl recalled. "We went home and bought Maximumrocknroll and tried to figure it all out".

In Virginia, Grohl attended Thomas Jefferson High School as a freshman. He was elected vice president of his freshman class and in that capacity would manage to play bits of songs by punk bands like Circle Jerks and Bad Brains over the school intercom before his morning announcements. Grohl's mother decided that he should transfer to Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria because his cannabis use was affecting his grades. He stayed there two years, beginning with a repeat of first year. After his second year, he transferred yet again, to Annandale High School.

Grohl has been married twice. He was married to photographer Jennifer Youngblood from 1994 to 1997. On August 2, 2003, he married Jordyn Blum. Together, they have three daughters: Violet Maye (born April 15, 2006), Harper Willow (born April 17, 2009), and Ophelia Saint (born August 1, 2014).

Grohl has been vocal in his views on drug misuse, contributing to a 2009 anti-drug video for the BBC. "I have never done cocaine, ever in my life. I have never done heroin, I have never done speed," he said in a 2008 interview, adding that he stopped smoking cannabis and taking LSD at the age of 20. In the BBC video, he said, "I've seen people die. It ain't easy being young, but that stuff doesn't make it any easier."