American Icons: David Grohl

 

What is your passion?

For some people, it’s hard to determine. But for others, it’s not.

Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters? Well, his passion is pretty easy to pinpoint - music.

It began at the age of 9 when Grohl picked up the guitar and formed his first band as a student at North Springfield Elementary School in Virginia. And thus, the seeds for his success later in life were planted.

But he did not stop with the guitar. He taught himself how to drum. And he immersed himself in the Washington D.C. music scene, drawing inspiration from those performing in front of live audiences.

Soon Grohl would have that chance: first, after dropping out of high school in his junior year at the age of 17, when he became the drummer of the popular DC band Scream. Then, just four years later, he would find even greater fame with the band Nirvana.

Following the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994, Grohl retreated into his music, recording the entire Foo Fighters album (save for a brief guitar piece on “X-Static”) on his own.

That’s right. Dave Grohl played every single instrument on that first Foo Fighters album by himself. If you have the CD, take a moment and put it in your car and listen to it again. You’ll gain a newfound appreciation for Grohl’s talents.

Today, the Foo Fighters are no longer a solo act. They have become an actual band, recording seven other studio albums. Together, they’ve garnered 11 Grammys, including Best Rock Album four times, more than any other band.

Still, Grohl is the face of the Foo Fighters and the creative genius behind other projects like “Sound City” and the band’s most recent album, “Sonic Highways”, in which they traveled to eight different cities across the United States, meeting with musicians, record engineers, producers and other individuals to discuss the unique music history of those parts of the country. The discussions were used as the inspiration for the lyrics of the eight songs on the album, and the creative process was chronicled on the HBO TV show “Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways.”

While Grohl is clearly living the rock star lifestyle, he comes off as genuine, likable and insightful. He’s also pretty cool.

Nowhere was that more apparent than last month, when this happened in the middle of the second song during a show Foo Fighters was playing in Gothenburg, Sweden:

Despite a broken leg, Grohl continued to play, finishing the show with the band. And he hasn’t let the incident stop the Foo Fighters from selling sold-out shows across America, including two recent two-and-half-hour sets at Fenway Park where he sat perched on a throne, playing the guitar just as passionately as if his leg weren’t in a cast.

But his leg was in a cast. Given his accomplishments, it would have been understandable if the 46-year-old cancelled the tour and spent his summer rehabbing his leg from the comfort of his million dollar home in Los Angeles.

That’s not Grohl. Music is his life. And there’s nowhere he feels more comfortable than on stage. He’s not just a rock god. He’s a rock icon.

And this summer – the Summer of Grohl and his Broken Leg Tour – we’re paying tribute to this icon by offering a 20% discount on the brand that epitomizes the rock star swagger that we love at American Sunglass: Ray-Bans.

To take advantage of this discount just the code DG2015 through Labor Day (Monday, September 7) when checking out.

Words of an Icon: “When there’s so much left to do, why spend your time focusing on things you’ve already done, counting trophies or telling stories about the good old days?” – Dave Grohl