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Dave Grohl Reveals Nirvana’s ‘SNL’ Debut Nearly Ended In ‘Titanic-Level Disaster’
Nirvana’s debut “Saturday Night Live” performance was a perfect introduction to the grunge genre for untold viewers watching live on Jan. 11, 1992, but it nearly ended in a “Titanic-level disaster,” drummer Dave Grohl revealed in a new documentary Monday.

“Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music,” directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Questlove of The Roots, chronicles the triumphs, pranks and accidents that have befallen musical guests on the iconic NBC show — with Nirvana’s debut arguably near the top.

Grohl recalled being “absolutely fucking terrified” when they arrived at “SNL” four months after their debut studio album, “Nevermind,” was released, and said in “50 Years” that he got even more nervous when the crew counted them down for their live performance.

“The room gets dead silent,” the Foo Fighters frontman said. “Your heart is racing and you’re thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m gonna faint, I’m gonna puke on live television, I’m gonna die.’ And, typically, what happens if I get nervous, I beat the shit out of the drums twice as hard.”

While that performance anxiety certainly helped him launch into “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with a vengeance when host Rob Morrow introduced the band, Grohl revealed that he “snapped my snare stick in half” when they were “only like 20 seconds into the song.”

Frontman Kurt Cobain gave no sign of noticing while belting out his lyrics.

“I was hitting the drums 10 times harder than I’ve ever hit them before in my life,” Grohl admitted in the documentary. “There was one break right before the first drum roll, I think, where I grabbed another stick really quick and busted into it.”

He continued, “I mean, it was so close to being, like, ‘Titanic’-level disaster.”

Grohl, seen here in 2019, has since formed the Grammy-winning Foo Fighters. Leo Correa/File/Associated Press

The performance was ultimately anything but, as then-“SNL” cast member Adam Sandler testified in the documentary: “People were talking about it, getting more calls than you ever got before from friends in my hometown, just like, ‘What’s he like? What’s Kurt like?’”

Cobain’s substance abuse issues eventually contributed to his suicide on April 5, 1994. Nirvana performed on “SNL” one last time on Sept. 25, 1993, months before Cobain died at the age of 27.

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Dave Grohl, former drummer of Nirvana and current frontman of the Foo Fighters, recently opened up about the band’s iconic debut on Saturday Night Live, revealing that it nearly ended in a “Titanic-level disaster.”

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Grohl recalled the nerves and excitement leading up to Nirvana’s appearance on the late-night sketch comedy show in 1992. The band was already riding high on the success of their hit album “Nevermind,” and the pressure was on to deliver a memorable performance.

However, things took a turn for the worse when, just moments before going on stage, Grohl realized that his drum set had been set up incorrectly. As he frantically tried to reposition the drums, he accidentally knocked over a cymbal, causing a loud crash that could be heard throughout the studio.

“I thought, ‘This is it, we’re done for,’” Grohl recalled. “It felt like the whole world was watching us fail in real-time.”

Despite the mishap, Nirvana went on to deliver a stellar performance, playing their hits “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Territorial Pissings” with raw energy and intensity. The band’s electrifying set not only won over the audience but also solidified their status as one of the most iconic rock bands of the 90s.

Looking back on that fateful night, Grohl can now laugh about the incident, joking that it was just another “rock ‘n’ roll moment” in Nirvana’s tumultuous career. And while the SNL debut may have been a close call, it ultimately helped propel the band to even greater heights.

As Grohl put it, “It was chaos, but it was beautiful chaos.” And for fans of Nirvana, that chaotic energy is what made the band so special and unforgettable.

Tags:
1. Dave Grohl
2. Nirvana
3. SNL debut
4. Titanic-level disaster
5. Music history
6. Behind the scenes
7. Rock legends
8. Kurt Cobain
9. Grunge music
10. Music industry secrets
#Dave #Grohl #Reveals #Nirvanas #SNL #Debut #Ended #TitanicLevel #Disaster
January 31, 2025
Dave Grohl recalls mishap in Nirvana’s first ‘SNL’ performance
Dave Grohl‘s nerves nearly led to a “Titanic-level disaster” the first time Nirvana played Saturday Night Live.

“I was absolutely f—ing terrified,” the legendary grunge band’s drummer admitted in the new documentary Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music. “The room gets dead silent. Your heart is racing and you’re thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m gonna faint. I’m gonna puke on live television. I’m gonna die.’”

While Grohl made it through the live performance of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” alongside bandmates Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic on the Jan. 11, 1992 episode, his equipment did not.

“Typically what happens if I get nervous, I beat the s— out of the drums, twice as hard,” the Foo Fighters frontman shared. “I was hitting the drums 10 times harder than I’ve ever hit them before in my life. By the first verse, I had snapped my snare stick in half. Which is not good.”

He emphasized, “Oh, and this is only like 20 seconds into the song.”

Nirvana on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1992.

NBC

Luckily Grohl’s mishap didn’t end in Nirvana offering all apologies for a ruined set.

“There was one break right before the first drum roll, I think, where I grabbed another stick really quick and busted into it. I mean, it was so close to being like Titanic-level disaster,” Grohl described.

The rockers also played “Territorial Pissings,” another song from their seminal album Nevermind, on the season 17 episode hosted by Rob Morrow.

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In the documentary, SNL creator Lorne Michaels explained how the band made his radar. “David Geffen called me about Nirvana because they were on his label, and he said, ‘I don’t know what’s happening, but you know, last week they sold 60,000 records, and this week they sold 140,000, so something is happening,’” Michaels recalled.

Adam Sandler, in his second season on the cast at the time, remembered the frenzy around his fellow Gen Xers. “People were talking about it, getting more calls than you ever got before from friends in my hometown, just like, ‘What’s he like? What’s Kurt like?’”

Chloe Fineman, host Nate Bargatze, and Dave Grohl on ‘SNL’ in 2023.

Will Heath/NBC via Getty

Nirvana returned for a second stint as musical guest on Sept. 25, 1993, just seven months before Cobain’s death at age 27. And despite his early bout of nerves, Grohl went on to become the most frequent SNL musical guest in the show’s history, performing with Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures, as an impromptu drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and other special appearances. The Grammy winner and two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee has also popped up in sketches over the years to show off his comedy chops, like the fan-favorite “Punk Band Reunion at the Wedding.”

Ladies & Gentlemen … 50 Years of SNL Music, co-directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Oz Rodríguez, is now streaming on Peacock.

In a recent interview, Dave Grohl, former drummer of Nirvana, reminisced about a mishap that occurred during the band’s first appearance on Saturday Night Live back in 1992.

Grohl revealed that just before going on stage to perform their hit song “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” he accidentally knocked over his drum kit, causing chaos and confusion among the band members and crew. Despite the unexpected setback, Nirvana managed to pull off a memorable performance that has since become iconic in the history of rock music.

Grohl’s recollection of the mishap serves as a reminder that even in the midst of chaos and mishaps, true talent and determination can shine through. Nirvana’s performance on SNL that night is a testament to their resilience and ability to overcome obstacles in the pursuit of their art.

Tags:
1. Dave Grohl
2. Nirvana
3. SNL
4. Saturday Night Live
5. live performance
6. music mishap
7. grunge music
8. rock music
9. Kurt Cobain
10. Dave Grohl interview
#Dave #Grohl #recalls #mishap #Nirvanas #SNL #performance
January 31, 2025
Rick Astley memoir tackles Rickrolling, Dave Grohl

Rick Astley is as surprised as anyone that his career is still rolling.

The humble British singer-songwriter linked together forever with his No. 1 decade-defying pop-culture-ingrained hit from 1987, “Never Gonna Give You Up,” has experienced the glory of fan-swarming fame, the inevitable resulting exhaustion, the retreat into civilian family life and an unlikely comeback that renders him much more than a footnote of pop music.

In his autobiography “Never” (out Tuesday, Pan Macmillan, 292 pages, $30), Astley, who turns 59 on Feb. 6, is an even-keeled voice. From his challenging upbringing with his father and siblings living in a Portakabin in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, to becoming a jewel in the crown of Stock Aitken Waterman, the hit factory/British production team behind a parade of ‘80s songs, Astley’s story embodies the tenet of head down, plow forward.

He’s also a humorous fellow, more with the dry shrug of a dad at the park with his kid than an acerbic flame thrower. But above all, Astley, who grew up playing drums in local bands and working at his father’s gardening store, never discounts the roles of luck and chance in his still-viable career.

“It’s almost as if there are two Rick Astleys,” he writes in the introduction. “The professional Rick Astley and the private Rick Astley, but they’re both incredibly happy … (the professional one) got a second chance of fame on his own terms, which means it’s completely different from his first burst of fame … And the private Rick Astley has, by anyone’s standards, a fantastic life.”

Check out: USA TODAY’s weekly Best-selling Booklist

Here are a few other takeaways from “Never.”

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Rick Astley’s brother once threatened to kill their father

Astley shares early in the book that life in his family household was “rarely normal.” His father, Horace, was equipped with a simmering temper and one day when Astley was 17, he found himself on the ground after his father pushed him and started kicking.

When he looked up, his older brother Mike was standing there holding a knife and looking like “someone who’d finally had enough.”

Mike walked up to Horace, held the knife to his throat and “calmly but very clearly” said, “I will kill you stone dead if you move an inch.”

Astley was stunned – Mike wasn’t the knife-wielding type – and after a few moments of silence, Horace told his sons to leave.

The boys walked to their grandmother’s, Mike not even putting on shoes, and told their mother (who had split from their father) what had occurred.

To Astley’s dismay, “she didn’t seem as shocked or horrified as you might expect.”

Rick Astley is as surprised by Rickrolling as everyone else

After essentially retiring at the age of 27 following a string of hits in the U.K. and U.S. including “Together Forever,” “It Would Take a Strong Strong Man” and “Cry for Help,” Astley, whose soulful voice always belied his choirboy visage, got married, had a daughter and enjoyed the money generated by his success.

But in 2007, while vacationing in Italy, Astley received an email from a friend with a seemingly random link, but after clicking on it was greeted with his video for “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

Confused, Astley called his friend who laughed that he “Rickrolled Rick Astley!” and explained to the singer about the viral prank circulating online where you trick someone into watching Astley’s music video.

“I guess I could have been hugely offended by it,” Astley recalls in the book, “but I didn’t think it was really mean-spirited.”

He shrugged it off as an internet joke and took some satisfaction in younger generations hearing the song.

But then came the tens of millions of YouTube figures for the video, the sudden appearances during American sporting events and even a Twitter reference from the Obama-helmed White House and an unintended resurgence unfolded.

“I don’t know how my career would have turned out without Rickrolling, but it would be stupid to say it hasn’t ultimately done me a lot of good,” Astley writes.

More:5 lessons from Brooke Shields on womanhood: ‘Clarity is a perk of aging’

Rick Astley has a friend in Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters

The Rickrolling phenomenon renewed Astley’s interest in music and in 2016, he released “50,” his first album in more than a decade that hit No. 1 and went platinum in the U.K.

This somewhat accidental resurgence and visibility also caught the ears of the Foo Fighters. The band first used “Never Gonna Give You Up” in a trolling maneuver in front of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, known for its anti-gay beliefs.

But then Astley found himself playing the same festival in Japan as the band, which he heard was listening to his music in their dressing room. The Foo Fighters were headlining the Summer Sonic Festival and invited any of the other acts to watch their set from the side of the stage.

Astley and his wife joined a group of onlookers and in the middle of a song, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl walked over and introduced himself to Astley. A few moments later, a roadie came up to Astley with a microphone and nudged him on stage, where he joined the band in a version of “Never Gonna Give You Up” done in the style of Grohl’s former band Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

A friendship was born, with Grohl inviting Astley to sing with the Foo Fighters again at the California Jam rock festival and Grohl praising Astley with a few affectionate expletives.

Astley continues to tour and in 2023, released his ninth studio album, “Are We There Yet?,” which peaked at No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart.

“Never Gonna Give You Up: Rick Astley’s Memoir Dives into Rickrolling and Friendship with Dave Grohl”

Tags:

Rick Astley memoir, Rickrolling, Dave Grohl, 80s pop star, music legend, viral sensation, internet meme, Rick Astley interview, music industry, pop culture, nostalgia, Foo Fighters frontman, Rick Astley autobiography, Rick Astley career, music history, pop music icon, never gonna give you up, rickrolling phenomenon.

#Rick #Astley #memoir #tackles #Rickrolling #Dave #Grohl

January 23, 2025