Dave Grohl was supposed to be on Boygenius’ ‘The Record’ but “slept through” the session

12 December, 2023

Dave Grohl and Phoebe Bridgers of Boygenius

Boygenius have revealed that Dave Grohl was meant to appear as a guest star on their debut album, but he “slept through” the session.

The topic arose during a recent interview the band took part in with NME, to celebrate their breakthrough album, ‘The Record’, being named the best album of the year.

Looking at the milestone, the trio – comprised of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker – revealed that the album very nearly had a guest appearance from rock legend Dave Grohl.

“We have a friend who knows him and toured with Foo Fighters,” Bridgers revealed, recalling how the plans for a collaboration with the Foo Fighters frontman came about. “There was this missed connection where Dave was actually going to come to the studio and play on [‘The Record’].

Although the artist didn’t reveal which song or songs Grohl was set to appear on, she did confirm why he never ended up in the finished product – saying he ultimately “slept through” the time they were meant to have the session, meaning “we didn’t end up meeting.”

While the plans for the two to join forces on the LP didn’t go quite to plan, eventually the two acts did end up working together earlier this year when the former Nirvana drummer made a surprise appearance with Boygenius on stage.

The moment happened during the trio’s show at the Hollywood Bowl on October 31, when Grohl joined them to play the drums during their rendition of ‘The Record’ track ‘Satanist’.

He sat behind the kit wearing all black and facepaint, while the trio played their set dressed as The Father, Son and Holy Ghost in celebration of Halloween.

Telling NME how the surprise performance arose Bridgers explained: “I made friends with Dave backstage at a Billie Eilish show. He’s the coolest guy ever… I was texting the boys, being like, ‘I met Dave Grohl, and he exceeds every expectation of how a rock star can be in the world’. I think we, as a group, look for that a lot – like, who is living their life the way that we want to get old and live our lives?”

“He’s so game. I just want to stay game the way that he is,” Dacus agreed, and Bridgers continued: “He’s the best. He was like, ‘I’m gonna be a priest, by the way’, when I told him what we were gonna be for Halloween.”

As well as being named NME’s album of the year for 2023, ‘The Record’ was also given a five-star review, with NME describing it as an “instant classic”.

Elsewhere, the trio were recently nominated for six Grammys including Album and Record of the Year for the release, and Bridgers was nominated for a seventh Grammy for her work on ‘Ghost In The Machine’ with SZA.

Speaking ahead of their stint on Saturday Night Live with Timothée Chalamet last month (November 11), the band reflected on their nominations – including being head-to-head against Foo Fighters for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song.

When asked how they felt about it, Bridgers said: “Pretty dope”, but then joked: “I think we’re gonna have to fight Dave Grohl in the parking lot.”

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