After our first conversation, the band conquered another achievement: the opening interpreter. The connection to President Biden’s campaign began in the fall, when Grohl, his mother, Virginia, and Dr. Jill Biden got together for a call from Zoom about education. (Virginia was a public school teacher for 35 years.) In a convergence of circumstance and opportunity that worked perfectly, as things tend to do for the band, the Foos also played “Saturday Night Live” the night Biden was declared the election winner – a presentation that took place four days in advance.
For the opening event, there was really no doubt about what they would play: the hopeful “Times Like This”, a track released almost 20 years ago that endured as an inflexible and optimistic hymn, where Grohl’s voice rises from tender to thunder how it sounds for a new beginning. No matter what year the song is played, “Times Like These” always looks to the future, imbued with a spirit of renewal much like Grohl himself. On social media, the response was extremely positive; more than that, the band was hailed as old friends. Once again, Foo Fighters made sense.
Above all, Grohl maintains a strong belief in the unifying power of music – in creating a space where people can come together and shout to feel something. As he explained, everything the band has done and continues to do stems from this very clear purpose.
“I just want to stay alive and play music, especially after Nirvana,” he said. “When Kurt died, I really woke up the next day and I felt so lucky to be alive, and so heartbroken that someone just disappeared. I decided to enjoy this, for the rest of my life. “
Throughout our conversations, he became self-conscious about what people expect from Foo Fighters, but he did not take that responsibility lightly. “For me, this band has always represented this continuation of life,” he added. “We were accused of being the least dangerous band in the world, and I think this is justified in some way, because I know what it’s like to be in that other band, and I know what that can lead to. That’s not why I play music. That’s not why I started playing music, and that’s not why I still play music. ”After all, he had already played in the biggest band in the world. Why not do it again?