Dave Grohl.
One of the founders of Nirvana.
Founder of The Foo Fighters.
Drummer. Guitarist. Singer.
He’s the rock star everyone likes even if they don’t like his songs.
Permanently positive, continually upbeat with a dollop of mischievousness thrown in for good measure.
He cares deeply about his fans … whether that’s playing a festival in Italy after someone sent him a video of a bunch of musicians playing ne of his songs or just inviting people on stage to play with the band.
But there’s something not everyone knows and that’s how good a dad he is.
For example, come rain or snow, Dave Grohl takes his kids to school and picks them up again.
Every single day.
In his family wagon.
No glitz, no glamour, just as normal a family life that an international rock star can give his kids.
Of course, there’s the odd exception.
When his kids school was having a fundraiser, he played a private concert there with Paul Stanley of KISS and Sammy Hagar, ex-Van Halen.
However recently, he has started to introduce his kids to the wider World.
Not in some fame hungry way, but in terms of letting them express their own musical talent.
At a recent concert in Oakland, Los Angeles, he played back-up musician to Violet – his 12 year old daughter – as she sang Adele’s ‘When We Were Young’.
Putting aside her incredible voice, it’s the various looks of utter pride he has on his face as he witnesses his daughter invigorate a crowd with her flawless vocals.
I love how he doesn’t try to take the spotlight.
I love how he has a huge grin on his face when she hits the high notes perfectly.
I love how he knows her voice is better than his and he’s so proud of that fact.
I imagine it’s similar to how Robert Plant felt when he watched Heart perform Stairway To Heaven at the Kennedy Centre and realised he had done something that would outlive him.
I have to admit, it brought tears to my eyes.
I look at my precious boy – Otis – and wonder if that will ever happen to me.
Where I get to witness him express his passion, in some way. Whatever it is.
I hope so.
I don’t say that because I worry he might not have a passion, I say it because I worry I may go before he discovers it.
Being an older Dad brings with it a whole bunch of worries and insecurities.
I don’t regret it because I wasn’t ready for it before, but being 48 years old and having a father who died at 60, there is a nagging worry that I may only have 12 more years left.
Of course I know the age of my Dad does not mean that will be the age I die, but I worry …
I want to see Otis grow up.
Sure, there’s a big part of me that thinks he’s doing that too quickly already, but I long to see him do things that he is passionate about. I long to experience that uncontrollable smile as I witness my little boy do things he loves.
And that’s why the video of Dave Grohl and his daughter really hit me.
Because I know that whatever success he has achieved in his life as a rockstar, it won’t be as amazing as him seeing his daughter live her truth.
