Dave Grohl has spoken about addressing his need for validation on the upcoming Foo Fighters album Your Favorite Toy.
The US rock band are returning with their first record in three years – out next month – and their first to feature new drummer Ilan Rubin, after Josh Freese was fired last year after a single tour.
Freese was himself the replacement for the band’s longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died in 2022 at the age of 50.
Your Favorite Toy also marks the Foos’ first new album since Grohl publicly admitted to having an affair and fathering a daughter outside of his marriage.
In an interview with The Guardian, Grohl, 57, said the lyrics on the new album “speak volumes” when asked if he’d won back the trust of his wife and family – something he said he hoped for in his statement in 2024.
One song, “Child Actor”, apparently confronts his need for validation: “It’s like this hungry ghost, an insatiable monster that you do your best to fill,” he said.
“But if you finally sit with yourself and consider humility and gratitude and empathy … you can strip away all the other bullshit and find those few things that are most important. But that takes turning off the world and stopping and sitting in silence with yourself.”
In the same interview, Grohl said he had to “turn everything off” after disclosing his infidelity, “one of those things being my concern for what other people think”.
“Being able to shut off that part of yourself can sometimes [be] a very healthy exercise in considering life within your immediate radius,” he said. “Not giving all of that so much currency within yourself that it can completely destroy [you].”
Bassist Nate Mendel said that he’d noticed a change in Grohl since news of his affair broke. “He’s putting the aspirations for the band in a different place, ambition-wise,” he said.
“There’s other things that have more prominence: life outside of music.”
Grohl spent some time out of the spotlight after disclosing his infidelity, with the band cancelling a tour.
Foo Fighters are next embarking on a tour of North American stadiums in August, and will also play two shows at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool on 25 and 27 June.
BTS poised to begin gigantic K-pop world tour after band’s military return
Niall Horan says new song is inspired by Liam Payne’s death
Original Pussycat Dolls member says she wasn’t invited on reunion tour
Tina Turner’s name, image and likeness acquired by team behind ABBA Voyage
Seoul raises terror threat level as 260,000 fans descend for BTS comeback gig
Lorde leaves Universal: ‘A 12-year-old girl pre-sold her creative output’
