This Is a Call

‘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.

Reviews

‘Grohl and his groups dissected with gumption.’ **** Mojo

‘Brannigan draws on his own interviews with Grohl, among others, to plot a compelling journey… ending with Foo Fighters headlining stadia. A big-hearted, fascinating read.’ Q

‘A rich history of recent pop music as it moves from punk and hard-core to grunge to indie bands’ New York Times

‘Impeccably-researched, thoroughly entertaining, and packed with rich new insights, This is a Call will enjoy a place among the absolute best music biographies of the past twenty years.’ LitReactor.com

‘A fascinating read… doesn’t skimp on entertaining anecdotes, juicy gossip or evidence of Grohl’s immense songwriting talent.’ Alternative Press

‘Brannigan not only offers a penetrating portrait of Grohl the man but also presents an indelible portrait of the American underground-rock scene.’ Booklist

‘Brannigan salutes a musician who’s surfaced, prosperous and sane, from the perils of an extended punk-rock adolescence that not all of his friends survived. Reverent and informative.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘Dave Grohl’s tale covers so many bases after 30 or so years in the business that it takes a biographer of consummate skill to get it all down on paper without missing anything out. Fortunately, ex-Kerrang! editor Paul Brannigan has what it takes…What lingers most is the expert way in which so many disparate slices of history are interlaced. After reading This Is a Call, you’ll know much more than you did before about the way that US hardcore merged into Seattle grunge, and how rock shed its skin in the 90s…It’s info such as that which makes this book essential.’ Record Collector