Social media was flooded with photos of dads and their children yesterday, since June 21 was Father’s Day. Many musicians weighed in, and one of them was Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl, who penned a lengthy and heartfelt tribute to his father.
Taking to his storytelling Instagram page, Grohl began:
“‘YOUR WRITING HAS PUNCH, DAVID. PUNCH IS POWER!’ After all these years, this simple message, my first words of true validation as a fledgling writer, has never left me. It echoes in my mind like a long canyon scream each time I sit down to a blank page, and inspires my to fill it with my true voice. […] It only makes sense that this particular validation wasn’t given by any of the poor, frustrated educators I left in my wake. No, it came from a truly brilliant writer who shaped my love (and fear) of the written word. The man, the myth, the legend … my father, James Harper Grohl.”
He went on to explain his father’s upbringing and some of the conflicts he and his old man had over the years, and described his dad as “a true Renaissance man,” an “actor, writer, award-winning journalist, lover of art and food, and a ferocious, classically trained musician.”
After hundreds of words, Grohl concluded his post, “My father was my first, and best, reader. It was through him that I found my love of writing, filling me with the same sense of purpose and accomplishment that I felt that night at the Bethesda Community Center as a rebellious teen. So much that I’ve even contemplated trying my hand at writing a book someday. Imagine that. Just call it ‘kicking the apple back up the hill a bit. If only he were still around to read it.”
Find Grohl’s full post below.