This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl

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Someone called and said Kurt died. I just f*****g lost it.
He has sold over 40 million albums. Hes been in bands that have changed popular music forever. He saw his best friend commit suicide. He starts supergroups. Hes 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 Grohls 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. And hes not finished yet.

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 doesnt skimp on entertaining anecdotes, juicy gossip or evidence of Grohls 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 whos 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 Grohls 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 takesWhat lingers most is the expert way in which so many disparate slices of history are interlaced. After reading This Is a Call, youll 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 90sIts info such as that which makes this book essential. Record Collector

Author Bio

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.