A fan letter written by then-14-year-old Dave Grohl has surfaced, showing that even as a teen, the former Nirvana and Foo Fighters star knew he had a future in rock & roll, Huffington Post is reporting .
Look what my hero Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat/Fugazi) just found: a letter I wrote to him when I was 14! Haha! pic.twitter.com/Ak8gxZz5m6
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) May 28, 2015
Whether or not Ian MacKaye ever called the teenage Grohl back (between 3 and 10 p.m. Virginia time, presumably the hours between when Grohl got home from school and when his mom disconnected his phone privileges for the night) is not clear.
With or without MacKaye’s help, Grohl clearly knew the right people to break into rock & roll, according to Biography . One night while touring with the D.C. punk band Scream, Grohl met up with Buzz Osbourne of The Melvins who thought the drummer might be a good match for this up and coming Seattle band you may have heard of called Nirvana. Osbourne made some phone calls, and the rest is rock history.
But still, it’s a testament to Ian MacKaye’s devotion to his fans that he held on to Dave Grohl’s fan letter for three decades. In fact, according to Huffington Post , that’s just how MacKaye rolls: the former Minor Threat and Fugazi frontman is known for his devotion to his fans. Reddit users shared some of their experiences with MacKaye.
“ gnomemania: My friend emailed Ian MacKaye to interview him for a research paper in college about 15 years ago (and other people, Jello Biafra is one I remember). Ian MacKaye actually called her back, left a voicemail when she wasn’t home, and then did a whole interview with her on the phone. All for a college paper. That’s a great dude right there.”
“Shiftlock0: He apparently keeps every fan letter ever written to him, and the only way he could have found this one from Grohl was if he was re-reading them, now some 30+ years later. That’s pretty awesome.”
Dave Grohl himself seems to have taken a cue from MacKaye and treats his fans with the same amount of respect his idol gives his own fans.
“SteadyDietOfNothing: From what I’ve heard about Grohl and the way he interacts with fans, I’m not surprised to see that Fugazi was one of his influences.”
Dave Grohl is currently on tour throughout Ireland and the U.K., behind the drums for a variety of bands at different gigs each night , according to Gigwise .
[Images courtesy of: Getty Images/Justin Sullivan, Pinterest]
