A chance meeting on the Ring of Kerry gave Dave Grohl the motivation to restart his life and form the Foo Fighters in the months following the death of Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain. Cobain died by suicide in April 1994.
"The three-and-a-half years that I was in Nirvana was a lifetime," Grohl told the Graham Norton Show.
"You can imagine how much changed in that time, not just in music, but in the world.
"It was a beautiful time, a renaissance. There was some sort of new emotional awakening where people felt it was OK to be themselves.
"When [Kurt Cobain died], it was just a matter of figuring out how to continue life."
Ring of Kerry trip inspired Dave Grohl to start Foo Fighters
Initially, Grohl was unsure what he should do with his life. So he travelled to Ireland, and took some time to reflect on his options.
"I couldn’t listen to music," he said.
"I didn't want to turn on the radio. I put my instruments away. It hurt too much to listen to music.
"So, I thought I'm going to go to one of my favourite places in the world, one of the most remote areas I could find, just to go out and soul search and find myself. So, I went to the Ring of Kerry. It's absolutely beautiful.
"I was driving down this country road, and I'm trying to figure out my life, trying to move on. I see a hitch-hiker, and he's in a parka, and it's raining a little.
"As I'm pulling up, I'm thinking, 'I think I'm going to pick this kid up. He's got a far way to go'. I got closer and closer, and saw that he had a Kurt Cobain t-shirt on.
"I thought, 'Even in the most remote area I could possibly find, I can’t outrun this thing. I'm going to go home, start over'. And I started the Foo Fighters.
"I needed to survive and get on with life. I was too young. I was 25 and life wasn't over yet.
Picture credit: Shutterstock
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