Dave Grohl Opens Up About His Mom Virginia's Death: 'She Was the Most Important Person in My Entire Life'

The Foo Fighters bandleader opened up to the 'Song Exploder' podcast about writing "The Teacher" in honor of his mother, who died in August 2022

Dave Grohl is opening up about the loss of his mother, Virginia Grohl.

In an episode of the Song Exploder podcast, the Foo Fighters bandleader, 54, discussed the time he spent with his mother before she died in August 2002 — just months after the band's drummer and Dave's longtime friend Taylor Hawkins died.

“I was with her for all of the time leading up to her passing,” Dave told host Hrishikesh Hirway. “Everyday during that period, I would write something on the guitar, because I felt that if I didn’t have that release, I would explode. I would spend the day at the hospital and then try to translate it musically — with no clear intention of what I was trying to achieve. I was finding these chords and progressions that mirrored the way that I felt."

As the Song Exploder host played a voice memo of his epic 2023 track "The Teacher," which he wrote during that time of strife, Dave said that he was "just wandering around a fretboard trying to find some sort of progression that makes sense."

Of the chorus riff, the Nirvana alum said it was "a good example of where I was mentally."

"I was confused, I was conflicted, and I was lost," the "Times Like These" singer said.

Dave decided to combine two of his demos to create the track: "These two ideas were separate to me until I imagined that if I were put them together, it’s more than a three- or four-minute song. It’s something much bigger… I could have a piece of music bigger than anything that we’ve ever done that I could dedicate to my mother.”

Related: Dave Grohl (and His Mom!) to Host New Series Spotlighting Famous Musicians and Their Mothers

The Grammy-winning artist continued: “She was the most important person in my entire life. So I thought this had to be the most important music I ever made.”

Dave discussed that the lyrics of "The Teacher," touching on the line “Where will I wake up?” which his mother had asked him during her final days.

He further explained the line "Wake up" in the song's chorus: “I think someone’s immediate reaction to seeing someone dying is to wish for them to wake up, but that’s not how it works. One of my greatest fears in life is that I would be gone when this happened — gone on the road, not present for this. I was there, and we were there together.”

He added: “But what I now realize is it doesn’t. I don’t believe everything just stops. I truly believe that this is just some sort of transition."

Related: The Time Miranda Lambert's Mom Used Her as a Spy and Other Revelations from Virginia Grohl's Book on Rock Mothers

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Dave described his relationship with his mother as "best friends."

“I was probably my only friend who liked hanging out with their parent...." he said.

Dave continued: "I felt like I had to honor her, pay tribute to her with this piece of music. So that’s when it turned into something other than a song. It’s the most important thing I’ve ever written because I wrote it for such a gigantic reason."

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