All About Dave Grohl's Parents, Virginia and James Grohl

Dave Grohl’s mother, Virginia Grohl, was a teacher, while his father, James Grohl, was a journalist

Dave Grohl is the very definition of rock royalty.

The former Nirvana drummer shot to fame in the 1990s as one-third of the legendary grunge trio, before becoming the frontman of the Foo Fighters.

He’s been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, first with Nirvana and then with Foo Fighters, and he’s also worked with bands including Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures and Scream.

However, he didn’t come from a particularly musical background. His mother, Virginia, was a teacher, while his father, James, was a journalist. James didn’t agree with his passion for music — Dave wrote in The Atlantic that they “just didn’t see eye to eye” — but Virginia encouraged it, and even accompanied her son on tour.

She told The Guardian in 2017 that, as a child, Dave “was always really fun to be around. He did some devilish things, but I never thought of him as bad.” She said of Dave as an adult that he “really is as nice as everyone says,” and described him as a “super dad” to his three daughters.

Related: Dave Grohl's 3 Kids: All About Violet, Harper and Ophelia

Here's what to know about Dave Grohl’s parents, from their careers and lives to the things Dave has said about them over the years.

Virginia was a teacher while James was a journalist

Virginia was a teacher and taught at Boardman High School in Boardman Township, Ohio. Meanwhile, James worked as a journalist.

According to the Tribune Chronicle, he also served as the special assistant to Senator Robert Taft Jr., was senior vice president of the U.S. Savings and Loan League, and worked as a political consultant in Washington, D.C.

He also served in the United States Army from 1961 to 1964, and edited the Stars and Stripes Army newspaper in Stuttgart, Germany.

Virginia and James had two children, including Dave

Virginia and James married in 1961, and had two children together. Daughter Lisa was born in 1968, and Dave was then born in 1969.

They lived in Warren, Ohio, at first before moving to Springfield, Virginia, when Lisa and Dave were children.

Virginia later lived in Washington, D.C. with her children, and Dave has spoken to The Guardian about “Mom making cinnamon toast and sticking shirts in the dryer to warm them up because it was cold outside” while they lived there.

Virginia and James divorced when Dave was 6

Dave told The Guardian in 2007 that his parents divorced when he was 6 years old. He was raised by his mother, who told the outlet in another interview that “some of us are very good at [being a single parent].”

Following the divorce, James went on to remarry Renie Yoshida Grohl.

Virginia let Dave drop out of school to go on tour

When Dave was 17, he auditioned to become the new drummer for the band Scream, lying about his age. They invited him to join, so he dropped out of high school and went on tour with them for the next four years.

Virginia told The Florida Times-Union about her decision to let Dave go, explaining, “Everyone thought I was out of my mind. I knew it was risky, yeah, but it seemed to me a way that he would learn about the world, and that’s what education is supposed to be. It’s not about getting all the answers, but showing you how to learn.”

Virginia wrote a book

In 2017, Virginia wrote the book From Cradle to Stage, in which she interviewed fellow mothers of famous musicians like Dr. Dre, Kelly Clarkson, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine.

She told PEOPLE that she came up with the idea after accompanying her son on tour and realizing that she wasn’t seeing any other mothers. “They really weren’t showing up, and I was showing up all the time,” she said. “I was sitting with a friend and I said, ‘How come it’s just me?’ And she said, ‘You should go find them.’ ”

James didn't initially support Dave's musical ambitions

While promoting his memoir, The Storyteller: Tales Of Life And Music, in 2021, Dave told the audience at London's Savoy Theatre that his father didn’t approve of his career choice, per the Mirror. Dave said that he discovered music around the time his parents divorced but wasn’t allowed to play music because of his poor grades.

He said, “My father would say to me, 'Don’t call yourself a musician just because you play an instrument' … We had that painfully awkward conversation about what I was going to do with my life. I didn’t know what to say but I knew this was it. I wrote a runaway note. This began the separation between my father and I.”

The father and son went on to form "a new dynamic" in their relationship, Dave wrote for The Atlantic in 2020, adding, "Over the years we developed a friendship based on mutual respect."

"As the years passed and my dreams of becoming a musician came true, he was always there to impart little gems of insight and wisdom, often steering me clear of the clichéd occupational hazards that typically clutter life in the music business," he added.

Virginia hosted a TV show with Dave

Virginia and Dave hosted the Paramount+ series From Cradle to Stage together. Based on her book, it first aired in May 2021, and the pair interviewed musicians including Pharrell Williams, Brandi Carlile, and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello alongside their mothers.

Dave described Virginia as his “best friend” and said about the show, “I believe that the relationship between a musician and their mother is so important because it's the foundation of their understanding of love, which is surely every artist's greatest muse.”

Dave once caught Virginia partying with Green Day

During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Dave discussed the time he found Virginia drinking beer with Green Day.

He said that after Virginia retired, “She started going on tour with me. I gave her a laminate and she would just go and hang out, and I’d be onstage playing and then get offstage and be like, ​‘Where’s my mom?!’ and she’d be drinking beers with Green Day upstairs and hanging out — she’s very cool!”

James died in 2014 and Virginia died in 2022

According to his obituary in the Tribune Chronicle, James died at the age of 75 on Aug. 6, 2014.

Virginia died in August 2022, per The Atlantic. Dave’s daughter, Violet, announced her death on Instagram Live, and later got a tattoo of her grandmother’s face.

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