In the latest instalment of Dave’s True Stories – Dave Grohl’s Instagram series where he recalls riveting anecdotes from his glorious career – Dave has taken us back to the time he was brave enough to proposition David Bowie with a creative pursuit.
Spoiler alert – Bowie graciously declined the offer. But the memory of the encounter inspired Dave to take us on a detailed journey through his admiration, real-life encounters and final banter with the Starman himself.
"David Bowie provided an indelible addition to the soundtrack of my life from an early age. His first live album, David Live was on regular rotation in my living room when I was a kid, and his classic track ‘Suffragette City’ was quite a hit at the backyard parties I played with my nerdy high school band in the early ’80s (I sang the ‘Hey Man!’ background vocals with the best pre-pubescent shriek I could possibly squeeze out of my skinny little neck)." Grohl wrote.
"So when he walked (levitated?) onstage that night, I felt as if I were being visited by another life form. The kind of ‘Starman’ I searched the night sky for as a child, waiting for his gilded spacecraft to desend [sic] upon my front yard and take me away from my banal suburban life. It was my first time witnessing Bowie’s grace and power live, and it provided me with a surprising revelation…"
Grohl also recalled the time he and Bowie teamed up on a track called "Jewel" for Reeves Gabrel’s 1999 solo record, Ulysses (Della Notte) and the last time he spoke with Bowie before he died.
"With every muscle in my body loosening from the crippling anxiety of the past few minutes, I sunk back into my living room chair, born again,” he wrote. “Hallelujah! I could finally breathe knowing that David Bowie did not actually wish me to 'fuck off' (or maybe he did, but in the nicest way possible, and even that was an honor)."
The previous edition of Dave's True Stories saw him jamming with Prince. Read all about it here.
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