Foo Fighters singer/guitarist Dave Grohl has lived a thousand rock and roll lifetimes. If you’ve seen his many late night interviews during the pandemic you know that he’s got endless amazing stories about his highlight reel-worthy 30-year career in music.
Now those tall tales will be compiled in an upcoming rock memories collection called The Storyteller, which is due out from Dey Street Books on Oct. 5.
“There is a common thread that runs throughout everything that I do: storytelling. Whether in song, documentary film or on the page, I have always felt compelled to share moments from my life,” said Grohl in a statement. “This inclination is a huge part of what excites me creatively but also as a human being.”
In March of last year, Grohl realized that the Foos were going to be on lockdown for an indeterminate amount of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so he launched the @davestruestories Instagram account, where he began sharing some of his stories publicly for the first time after decades of being on the endless album-tour-album-tour cycle.
“I soon found that the reward I felt every time I posted a story was the same as the feeling I get when playing a song to an audience, so I kept on writing. The response from readers was a soul-filling as any applause in an arena,” he continued. “So, I took stock of all the experiences I’ve had in my life-incredible, difficult, funny and emotional-and decided it was time to finally put them into words. Now with the amazing people at Dey Street books I’m excited and honored to announce THE STORYTELLER, a collection of memories of a life lived loud. From my early days growing up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, to hitting the road at the age of 18, and all the music that followed, I can now share these adventures with the world, as seen and heard from behind the microphone. Turn it up!”
The legendary rock raconteur will share everything from “hilarious childhood mishaps, touching family moments, leaving home to see the world at eighteen, to spectacular stories about Nirvana, Foo Fighters, David Bowie, Joan Jett, Iggy Pop, Paul McCartney, playing drums for Tom Petty on Saturday Night Live, performing at the White House, and even swing dancing with AC/DC, with all love, laughs, loss, and embarrassments along the way,” according to a release announcing the book.
“From the second I saw Dave’s first post on Instagram, I knew I was going to publish his book. Well, to be honest, I’ve been hoping to publish Dave Grohl’s book since I became a book editor,” said Dey Street v.p. and editorial director Carrie Thornton. “I’m a Gen-Xer. I’m from Virginia just like Dave. We grew up listening to a lot of the same music. I’ve always admired his Puckish personality and his awesome musicianship. It turns out that he can write with as much energy and passion as he performs. Plus, he’s a spectacular human who cares deeply about his mom, his family, his bandmates, music, art and the world. All of that passion comes through in his stories and in THE STORYTELLER. I am a lucky editor indeed, but mostly because I get to read the book first.”
Check out an audio preview of the book read by Grohl below.
