This Is a Call: The Fully Updated and Revised Bestselling Biography of Dave Grohl

Paul Brannigan

Sep 2011 · HarperCollins UK

About this ebook

‘Someone called and said Kurt died. I just f*****g lost it.’

He has sold over 40 million albums. He’s been in bands that have changed popular music forever. He saw his best friend commit suicide. He starts supergroups. He’s the nicest guy in rock.

From Nirvana to Foo Fighters, from brotherhood to bitter rivalry, from breathless highs to lifeless lows, Paul Brannigan gives an unparalleled, intimate and extraordinary account of the life and times of Dave Grohl.

In 1990, little-known punk-metal upstarts Nirvana added a new drummer to the band. They were soon to become a global phenomenon – but as we all know, things went wrong. Dave's friend Kurt, frontman of Nirvana, took his own life, plunging the band and their future into chaos. His friends’ grief was mirrored by worldwide sorrow to an unprecedented degree.

Defying expectations, a knack that was soon to become his trademark, Grohl refused to see it as the end. In 1995 his new band, the Foo Fighters, rose to join the pantheon of rock deities.

The 'wonder years' were by no means calm. The spotlit existence imposed by his celebrity status, the bellowed vilification by his critics and his high-speed lifestyle proved a dangerous cocktail.

With an account of Grohl’s life that is more personal than anything written before, more startling, more thrilling, more heart-rending and more inspiring, Paul Brannigan reveals Dave fully for the first time.

This is the story of the man who changed music forever.

Ratings and reviews

I wanted more Grohl and less of a rock history lesson. Thankfully I read the sample version and didnt pay for it...and...like others have said, a very slow read.

I am not a person that usually reads but i read this from beginning to end and still wanted more. Great read for those interested in the details rather than the quick version of Daves story.

It's slow but if you love music and want a deeper understanding of punk music and Dave grohls life it's really good

About the author

Paul Brannigan has a professional relationship with Dave Grohl stretching back almost 15 years: "I would consider the two of us to be friends," Grohl told Brannigan when the pair last spent time together in Los Angeles. Brannigan is the former Editor of Kerrang! – the world's biggest weekly music magazine – and his writing on punk rock, grunge and hard rock have also appeared in the world renowned Q and Mojo magazines.