Dave Grohl doesn’t buy that rock is dead: “When I see fucking Billie Eilish, that’s rock’n’roll to me”
Grohl also praised Isle Of Wight indie duo Wet Leg.
Images: Alberto E Rodriguez / Scott Dudelson / Getty
Dave Grohl has offered his perspective on the endless “is rock dead?” discussion, stating that he views the future of rock’n’roll as separate from the need for the music to be entirely guitar-focused.
Grohl has recently been doing the press rounds ahead of the release of Studio 666, the Foo Fighters’ comedy horror film. He has occasionally touched on his wide-ranging taste in music, however, when asked by the Independent about the “is rock dead” debate, his answer included musicians ranging from the chart-conquering Billie Eilish to UK indie-rock duo Wet Leg. The question was spurred on by a line from Studio 666, in which Jeff Garlin’s character laments that: “Rock’n’roll, it hasn’t been relevant for a long time.”
Grohl responded: “Well, I think you have to define ‘relevant.’ It’s hard for us to say that rock’n’roll is in a rough patch, because we get up on stage and there’ll be thousands of people fucking going bananas and singing along to our songs.”
However, he did acknowledge his perspective is from within a band that’s been around for over 25 years. “I can understand how it’s a different game nowadays for younger bands. There’s a lot of great young bands that are fucking killing it and have devoted fan bases. They might not be as popular as Nicki Minaj, but honestly, when I see fucking Billie Eilish, that’s rock’n’roll to me. She started a revolution and took over the world.”
Grohl then gave Wet Leg as another example of a band that are set to “take over.”
“I really do dig them,” he said. “A friend of mine turned me on to them about six or seven months ago and I couldn’t get the song out of my head.
“Sometimes we’ll hang out at a friend’s house and just dance until four o’clock in the morning, and we’ll play Chaise Longue on repeat, like over and over and over and over and over again,” he revealed.
Back in January, Viberate also cited Wet Leg as an example of rock’s vivaciousness, alongside Italian hard-rockers Måneskin and solo artist Mitski. The study revealed that rock had thrived across 2021, mainly via TikTok and streaming music services.