Dave Grohl’s path as a musician is anything but ordinary. He found success in his early 20s as the drummer of the legendary grunge band, Nirvana, but much like most drummers, he kept a low profile. Unfortunately, tragedy struck in 1994 when singer Kurt Cobain took his own life, which was a huge blow to Grohl both as a musician and as a person. No one could have predicted that, just a year later, he would start his journey to becoming the greatest frontman in current rock music.

Foo Fighters Weren’t Initially Supposed to Be a Band

In 1994, after Kurt Cobain passed away, Dave Grohl was at a crossroads. He had reached the highest level of stardom with Nirvana, and it had all gone away seemingly overnight. And, to top it off, he had lost one of his best friends in a heartbreaking way. So, for the first time ever, the idea of quitting music crossed his mind. He took several months off when he didn’t even listen to music, as it hurt him too much. Everything reminded him of Nirvana and of Kurt Cobain. “I was heartbroken,” he admitted, years later. “I didn’t really know if I ever wanted to play music again.”

But eventually, he couldn’t keep away from his true passion any longer. “I realized that music was the one thing that had healed me my entire life,” he explained. So, he decided to start from scratch. He booked some time in a studio and, with no pressure from labels or bandmates, he recorded a few songs he’d been secretly working on for the past few years. He sang all the songs and played all the instruments, and by the end, he had a demo tape with 12 songs. He titled it “Foo Fighters.”

His idea with that name was to make it seem that it was a band, so that no one would know it was “the drummer from Nirvana.” He got the idea from Stewart Copeland‘s first solo album, which the drummer from The Police recorded under the pseudonym Klark Kent to confuse people. Grohl passed the tape around to friends in the industry, without telling them he’d recorded it, and got rave reviews from everyone. Suddenly, the idea of becoming the leader of a band didn’t seem so far-fetched. In a matter of months, he recruited Pat Smear, who had been playing guitar with Nirvana during the last year of the band, bassist Nate Mendel, and drummer William Goldsmith. Finally, it seemed as though Grohl had found a path forward after Nirvana.

Dave Grohl Turned Down Tom Petty to Form the Foo Fighters

Dave Grohl had no way of knowing he would end up becoming the leader of one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Truthfully, his situation is uncommon, to say the least. Most drummers don’t go on to become lead singers. When their bands break up, they usually lead private lives or join other artists as tourists or session drummers. That path presented itself to Grohl, and it was an offer that was almost too good to refuse.

In 1994, Tom Petty called up Grohl to ask him to play drums for him during his Saturday Night Live performance. Petty was one of Grohl’s heroes, so of course he said yes. After the flawless performance, Petty offered him a permanent spot on his next tour, leaving Grohl speechless. Keep in mind, the Foo Fighters were barely an idea at the time. There was no guarantee it would work, never mind that it would be so successful. Tom Petty’s offer was a dream come true for any drummer, Grohl included, and he seriously considered it. In addition to getting to tour with one of his heroes, it would be a much more luxurious situation. The first Foo Fighters tour was in a van, playing small clubs and theaters. Petty could guarantee him his own tour bus, a light schedule, and playing to much bigger audiences. But despite it being a dream gig on paper, in the end, Grohl had to turn his hero down. It wasn’t easy, but he knew in his heart it was the right choice.

“I had just started doing this thing [the Foo Fighters], and I just felt weird about just going right back to the drums because it would have just reminded me of being in Nirvana,” Grohl explained. “It would have been sad for me, personally, it would have been an emotional thing to be behind the drum set every night and not have Kurt there. So I was like, nah. I’m going to try this other thing.”

In the Foo Fighters: Back and Forth documentary, Grohl admits he wasn’t completely sure of his choice, not because he wasn’t committed to the band, but because he feared he would be turning down the opportunity of a lifetime. Needless to say, it worked out for him, and despite the recent setbacks and tragedies the band has been going through, the Foo Fighters remain one of the greatest rock bands of all time.