There isn’t too much that can bring Dave Grohl down. Throughout his time in the Foo Fighters, every single opportunity he has to play music has been met with joy across the board, with most fans and critics calling him one of the nicest guys in rock and roll. Grohl does have a limit when it comes to greedy rock stars, and one of the biggest metal drummers in the world made his shitlist at the dawn of the ‘00s.
As Metallica were going through emotional turmoil, Lars Ulrich went after Napster for what he saw as a pirate website hijacking his music for the Metallica song ‘I Disappear’. While most fans were outraged at Ulrich, no one was as savage as Grohl. Though Grohl admitted that the Metallica drummer had some legitimate points, he thought he was going about it in the wrong way, saying (via Rock and Roll True Stories), “I feel like music should be available for anyone who wants to hear it. I don’t want to have to turn on the radio and put a nickel in it to hear a Metallica song…When it’s someone who’s sold 50 million records, and they got 50 million fucking dollars, and they’re bitching about pennies, fuck you man”.
Grohl was only one in a long line of people calling out Ulrich’s pursuit against Napster, including fan that showed up at the court proceedings so they could stomp on their Metallica records as Ulrich went in the door.
Although Grohl might not easily forgive and forget, his love for Metallica started to mend over the next few years. During the promotional cycle for the Metallica album Death Magnetic was underway, Grohl and fellow Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins were on the ground floor to interview the band.
Grohl even told a story later on about how Ulrich showed him what real rock star living was like. In the midst of them flying to the next city for a gig, Grohl almost got persuaded to redirect the plane to Vegas, saying in an interview for Ulrich’s It’s Electric radio show, “you said one of the craziest things to me. You said you wanted to direct the plane to Vegas, and I said I can’t do that. Then you said, ‘we can do whatever we want’ and I was like…’YEAH WE CAN MAN’. Then I just went home. I was like ‘I wanna be Lars Ulrich so bad”.
During their conversation, Grohl was complimentary towards Metallica and even mentioned how James Hetfield influenced his performing style as a frontman alongside legends like David Bowie. When promoting their record Concrete and Gold, Ulrich talked about showing up to one of The Foos’ gigs and remarking how much different it was to the dressing room in Metallica shows.
Instead of the huge boundaries, Ulrich was invited back, saying, “I was ‘I don’t wanna get in their shit’ and their manager was like ‘Go on in!’ And I get there, and you guys are basically doing shots. It’s like the party is already started in the dressing room”.
Despite being in one of the biggest rock bands in the world, Grohl never lets himself reach Metallica levels of rock stardom. He might have a lot of money in the bank with the Foos’, but he’s always about focusing on giving his audience a good time.
