Dave Grohl Does Not Hate Taylor Swift

In case you haven’t heard, a rock star talked smack about a pop artist and the world is now falling apart! In case you’re new to music fandom, this is hardly the first time it’s happened. In fact, if there were a job interview for rock stars, one of the questions would surely be: “How much do you hate pop music?” with the follow-up: “Give an example of how you might make fun of a pop artist.” For this latest episode, the pop artist in question is the reason for the commotion as of late. Let me catch you up... How Dave-Grohl-Taylor-Swift-Gate Began See, what had happened was, Saturday night, the Foo Fighters, fronted by one of the best rock stars alive (and generally, just a likeable guy), Dave Grohl, was playing London Stadium in…well, London. Taylor Swift just so happened to be performing in London the same weekend, 24 miles away at Wembley Stadium. https://www.instagram.com/p/C8CHiocu4n1/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== In what seemed to be an off-the-cuff joke gone a little sideways, Dave made reference to Taylor’s tour being the “Eras Tour,” then said the Foo’s tour is the “Errors Tour, we’ve had more than a few eras and more than a few (effin) errors as well…” This is where Dave could have ended the comment. It’s a funny enough lil anecdote. But, as men often do, Dave continued and eventually put his foot in his mouth: He said “That’s because we actually play live.”  Ouch. Honestly, I don’t think he really meant anything by it. However, I should add that I have never met this man. He seems like a good, genuine dude. But, who knows? He could be the absolute worst human being on Earth. https://www.instagram.com/p/C8fQ_-3JNPT/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Dave Has A History Of Fun Banter With His Audience I feel like he was just trying to get a rise out of the audience, which he did. The audience booed and he twisted it into “What? You guys like live, raw rock n roll music, yada yada…” Decent save. The real win here is that the audience full of “live, raw rock n roll music” fans seemingly defended Taylor…. or maybe they were booing Taylor? Another reason I don’t believe he was being outright malicious is that he has praised Taylor on multiple occasions. He’s even recanted a story about playing LIVE (ahem) with Taylor, while she kind of rescued him at a star-studded SNL party that included none other than Dave Grohl hero, and Taylor Swift fan, Sir Paul McCartney. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEhiIr-dveE So, Dave clearly knows the caliber of musician that Taylor is and clearly knows that she plays live. I Like Both Dave And Taylor, So They Have To Get Along But, the biggest reason I don’t believe he was bashing Taylor is because I am a big fan of both artists and I don’t want to pick a side, here. I’m used to my favorite artists saying idiotic things. I am, after all, a Kanye fan. https://www.instagram.com/p/BmWT9IeHohX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== However, 2024 is the age of outrage and some people are quick to jump on the “cancel” bandwagon. Personally, I’d love to get back to believing that rock stars (and pop stars, rap stars, country stars, etc.) live in some sort of alternate rock star universe where their antics are filed in the “rock stars being rock stars” category. Obviously, the sexual predators and abusers of the world deserve to be cancelled. But, some of the people we’ve been cancelling have some of my favorite music and I want it back. But, that’s another topic for another day.