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Tue 29 September 2026 22:37, UK
For most of us, the mere thought of stepping in front of an arena full of people and singing is enough to turn our knees to jelly. Others, though, seem born for the stage, carrying themselves with the kind of confidence that makes being a rock star look effortless.
Making one of the daunting jobs in the world look effortless is a sign of true showmanship and a natural prowess for performing. In the case of Dave Grohl, who has been filling out the biggest spaces in the world with Foo Fighters for more than 30 years, it was a skill he’s had to work damn hard at to master.
While Grohl might not be the most technically gifted vocalist in rock, he has always made up for it in other ways. After all, there’s a world of difference between hitting every note in the comfort of a recording studio and commanding an entire stadium from the stage.
In an ideal world, a rock singer should be able to do both of the above with aplomb, but only a select few are truly the full package without any areas of weakness. While Grohl is undoubtedly an iconic frontman, he’s not deluded enough to think he’s the greatest ever to do it in history.
Drumming was Grohl’s first love, and it was never his intention to lead a band. Instead, the decision to form the group was born out of tragic circumstances following the passing of Kurt Cobain. Foo Fighters was initially intended to be a vessel for his solo material, as the idea of being in a band again was too painful, but they became an unstoppable rock behemoth.
Working with Cobain in Nirvana was an apprenticeship for Grohl, even if he didn’t know it at the time. Night after night, the drummer had the best seat in the house to watch Cobain’s craftsmanship. However, he has never tried to be anyone but his authentic self on-stage, warts and all.
As much as Cobain was a dear friend and hero to Grohl, however, in his mind, the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, who sold more than 300 million records for a reason, was the greatest frontman ever. As much as people have tried, nobody has come close to matching his greatness, according to Grohl.
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While Mercury could often be shy or reserved in a social setting, his true self came to life when he performed with Queen and wore his famous yellow jacket. Poignantly, Grohl’s late bandmate Taylor Hawkins was a Queen superfan who regularly shoehorned his love of the band into Foo Fighters shows. They often covered ‘Somebody To Love’ in their live sets, with Hawkins trotting out his best Mercury impression while Grohl deputised on drums.
This even impressed Brian May, who was flattered, once telling Planet Rock: “That was always a shock to me because he (Hawkins) seemed to be a lot cooler than we were. I think Taylor Hawkins single-handedly made Queen cool to a new generation. He knew everything about us… everything!”
Grohl and Hawkins read from the same hymn book about most things, including Mercury’s brilliance, with the frontman once going as far as saying, “Every band should study Queen at Live Aid.”
He elaborated on his school of thought, “If you really feel like that barrier is gone, you become Freddie Mercury. I consider him the greatest frontman of all time. Like, it’s funny? You’d imagine that Freddie was more than human, but… you know how he controlled Wembley Stadium at Live Aid in 1985? He stood up there and did his vocal warm-ups with the audience. Something that intimate, where they realise, ‘Oh yeah, he’s just a f***ing dude’.”
More than four decades have passed since that moment, which is still etched firmly in the rock history books, and it’s hard to imagine anything of that magnitude occurring again. Having a stadium in the palm of your hands is one thing, but Mercury had a billion people’s eyes glued to their TV sets in amazement, too.
The performance at Wembley was the cherry on the cake, ensuring Mercury was viewed in a league of his own. Although his life was cut painfully short when he still had so much to give the world, Mercury built a legacy that will never be forgotten, thanks to his unrivalled presence, which made him a magnetic force that captivated anybody who witnessed him perform.
