NEWS
Dave Grohl has shared that he was completely unaware his daughter Violet had secured a record deal until she casually told him over dinner.
The legendary rocker has been making the rounds with interviews as Foo Fighters get ready to drop their 12th studio album ‘Your Favorite Toy’ on April 24, a project Grohl says is packed with “noisy, loud bangers” that capture a feeling of “the old days”.
Speaking during a recent appearance on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X, the frontman opened up about his teenage daughter Violet stepping into her own music career, admitting he played no role in creating her material.
The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter began releasing new music last month, including the David Lynch-inspired ‘What’s Heaven Without You’, which arrived last week to mark the first anniversary of the iconic filmmaker’s passing.
She followed that by confirming she had signed with Republic Records / Island EMI and would soon release two new tracks, ‘Thum’ and ‘Applefish’.
Moyles mentioned to Grohl that her music had recently been selected as ‘Record Of The Week’ on Radio X, prompting the Foo Fighters frontman to speak proudly about her work.
“This is amazing. So Violent, my daughter, she’s 19, about to turn 20, she made this album with a producer named Justin Raisen, and she did it on her own,” he said. “She connected with the producer, they were in the studio every day, and she would send me songs once they were done. But I had absolutely nothing to do with this record at all.”
He added that although he would have loved to be more involved, he did not realize how far things had progressed until she sat him down and told him herself.
“I had no idea. I knew she was looking to sign a record deal, and she was like, ‘Hey dad, can I come over for dinner tonight?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, sure. What do you want me to make?’ And she came over and told me, like, ‘I signed my record deal today.’ I’m just like, ‘Oh my God!’ So, I’m totally uninvolved,” he continued. “I’m the dad who wants to be there and know everything. And she’s just totally doing her own thing. It’s amazing.”
Grohl went on to praise Violet’s upcoming album as “amazing” and said she is “so incredibly talented and has such great taste in music”.
He also shared that watching her create new music ended up inspiring him while working on the latest Foo Fighters record.
“It really did. The way that they made that record and the energy of it, I was like, ‘Oh, man. I’ve just been inspired by my daughter’s debut album.’ It’s cool,” he explained.
Back in late 2024, reports surfaced that Violet had been working on her debut solo album with Raisen, whose credits include Kim Gordon, Charli XCX, and Sky Ferreira. Grohl has also previously said he would love to feature on her first record.
They have collaborated before, releasing a cover of ‘Nausea’, originally by Los Angeles punk band X, in 2021.
She first joined Foo Fighters on tour in 2018, contributing backing vocals at several shows. She later appeared at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts in 2022, and after featuring on the band’s 2023 track ‘Show Me How’, she joined them onstage at that year’s Glastonbury to perform it.
Last year, the remaining members of Nirvana, Dave, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear, reunited for a four-song set at the Fire Aid benefit concert in Los Angeles, with Violet taking on lead vocals for ‘All Apologies’.
As for Foo Fighters, the band revealed details of their 12th studio album ‘Your Favorite Toy’ on Thursday, February 19, alongside its powerful title track. In a four-star review, NME called the song a “futureproof rock beast” that is “snarlingly unapologetic”.
The album is set for release on April 24 and follows 2023’s ‘But Here We Are’. It will also include last year’s track ‘Asking For A Friend’.
Since announcing the new record, Grohl has admitted it was “really complicated” to move forward after the sudden death of Taylor Hawkins in 2022, and said he has often felt like each album could have been their last.
The band are preparing for a run of major stadium shows across the UK and Europe this year, along with North American dates later in the summer and autumn. They have also confirmed an Australia and New Zealand tour scheduled for 2026 and 2027. Tickets are available here.
Over the past week, Foo Fighters have performed their new single ‘Your Favorite Toy’ live for the first time on The Graham Norton Show and announced a string of surprise gigs across London, Dublin and Manchester.
They launched the run in Dublin on Monday, February 23, using the intimate show to debut unreleased material from the upcoming album. The London date is set for tonight, Wednesday February 25, followed by Manchester on Friday, February 27.
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
