David Eric Grohl (born January 14, 1969) is an American rock musician, singer and songwriter. Grohl began his music career in the 1980s as the drummer for several Washington, D.C., area bands, including the hardcore punk band Scream. In 1990 he became the drummer for grunge group Nirvana. Following the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain in April 1994, Grohl formed Foo Fighters where he emerged as a frontman and songwriter. In addition to leading Foo Fighters, Grohl has also been involved in other musical projects, including Queens of the Stone Age and his heavy metal side project Probot, and has performed session work for a variety of musicians, including Killing Joke, Tenacious D, Nine Inch Nails and, most recently, The Prodigy.

As a child, his family (father James Grohl, mother Virginia Wendt, and older sister Lisa) relocated from Warren, Ohio, to Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Three years later, his parents divorced, and Grohl grew up living with his mother.

At the age of twelve, Grohl began learning to play guitar. He eventually grew tired of lessons and instead played in bands with friends. A year later in 1982, Grohl and his sister spent the summer in Evanston, Illinois at their cousin Tracy's house. Tracy introduced them to punk rock by taking the pair to shows by a variety of punk bands. "From then on we were totally punk," Grohl explained. "We went home and bought Maximumrocknroll and tried to figure it all out."