‘My heart raced as if I had been summoned to the Principal of Pop’s office.’
Even legends get starstruck sometimes. When you’re at a concert watching two superstars power though an impromptu jam session, there’s always the chance one of them is totally losing it on the inside. Believe it or not, this once happened to worldwide rock ‘n roll ambassador Dave Grohl. The musician who gave him butterflies? None other than Prince.
The Foo Fighters leader blew off some quarantine boredom Tuesday (April 7), sharing a fascinating story about how the Purple One once threw him into a weeklong fit of hysteria over an invitation to jam onstage.
The tale takes us back to 2011, when Prince was kicking off a 21-show residency at the Los Angeles Forum. Prince learned Grohl was in attendance and after the show, approached him with a request to jam: “How about next Friday?”
Grohl remembers Prince once shut down a request from the Foo Fighters to commercially release a cover of “Darling Nikki,” so he knows his hero wasn’t always so enamored with his work. A tumultuous week ensues, with Grohl documenting every detail.
The long-awaited jam sesh wasn’t as immaculate as Prince covering the Foo Fighters’ “Best of You” at the 2007 Super Bowl halftime show (which Grohl also recounts), but it proved special in its own unique way. It involves an empty arena, a mighty Led Zeppelin cover, and Grohl gushing, “This was the universe folding into itself right before my eyes!!!”
Read the whole thing below via Grohl’s new storytelling Instagram account, “davestruestories.” While the Foo Fighters’ 25th anniversary plans have been shuffled due to COVID-19 concerns, at least we’ve got stories like this.
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