1994 was not an easy year for Dave Grohl. He spent much of the year on hiatus following the tragic death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in April, assessing what the future held for him. Five months later, he was offered a reprieve from this purgatory when Tom Petty invited him to join the Heartbreakers on drums for a very special performance of “Honeybee” live on Saturday Night Live.

While Grohl had been struggling with the emotion of drumming on stage without Kurt, this would prove to be an offer too good to refuse. 

In fact, the performance went so well that Petty asked Grohl to consider taking on the gig full-time but Grohl was ready for an exciting new chapter in his life. Thankfully, for just one night this mighty musical union was captured on the legendary SNL. We think Dave would’ve made a perfect Heartbreaker, then again, he can do anything! Watch highlights from their performance of “Honeybee” below. 

Listen to the live recording in full below. 

“We had so much fun and we all got along so well,” Grohl later told Howard Stern, going on to describe his shock when Petty suggested he keep playing with him, because he “could get a world-class drummer – like any dude”.

Grohl continued: “We played SNL, and afterwards, he was like, ‘Man, that was good. It would be a shame if that’s the only time we do it’ sort of thing. And then he called me at home and he’s like, ‘Well look, if you want, here’s how we do it: you get your own bus, and we don’t tour too hard’. He was kind of explaining like, ‘If you’re into it, come out and do it for a little while’.”

“I just felt weird about going right back to the drums, because it would have just reminded me of being in Nirvana. It would have been sad for me personally. It would have been an emotional thing to be behind the drumset every night and not have Kurt there. So I was like, ‘Nah, fuck it. I’m gonna try this other thing’.”

That “other thing” (Foo Fighters) would turn out to be massive!

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