Okay, forget about what I said about Dave Grohl when I saw those Emperor-inspired Foo Fighters Christmas sweaters last week. This story totally redeems him.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Grohl recalls filling in on Ozzfest '98 in England and how Dime inspired him to be cool to everybody:
"There was an Ozzfest in England in 1998, and Korn canceled. So we got the call. It was Slayer, Pantera and Black Sabbath. We had to go on after Pantera. I was so terrified: ‘There’s gonna be a riot. I’m gonna get drawn and quartered. No one’s going to like our band.’
"But we played, and I looked to the side. The guys from Pantera are watching us and singing the lyrics to our songs. Afterwards we made friends with Pantera. I was nervous and scared; I didn’t think I fit in. But they were so open to us. That backstage hospitality we try to have – it all came from Pantera. [Guitarist] Dimebag Darrell was the nicest fucking guy in the world. He could walk in and do a shot of Crown Royal with Justin Bieber, with Rick Nielsen, with James Brown – he was everybody’s best friend. And you could feel that energy when he was playing.
"After that day, I was like, ‘From now on, everybody’s allowed in this room. I don’t care if it’s Britney Spears.’ I became the backstage best friend. Whenever I showed up at a festival, the first thing I’d do is grab a bottle of whiskey and go knocking on doors to see who the funniest people are. You’d be surprised who the real fucking nutcases are."
To this day, I have never heard a bad thing said about Dimebag, and there is probably a reason. Dude was a heavy metal saint! Looks like if Dave never met Dime, we might not be referring to Grohl as the coolest motherfucker in music.
[via Metal Insider]
