Dave Grohl

FEW performers have achieved success with multiple bands - stepping out of the shadow of one huge act and recreating that magic can be tough ask.One of those few is Dave Grohl. He pounded the skins on Nirvana's landscape-changing Nevermind, re-emerged after Kurt Cobain's suicide as the affable frontman for multi-million-selling rockers Foo Fighters, returned to the kit for Queens Of The Stone Age's breakthrough Songs For The Deaf... and the list goes on.Despite the smash-hit singles, platinum records, swag of accolades and critical acclaim, Grohl has remained the Mr Nice Guy of rock 'n' roll. The aforementioned highlights have also made him one of the most in-demand drummers in rock music.He's played with David Bowie, Tenacious D, Cat Power, Garbage, Killing Joke, Nine Inch Nails and more, but here are the five biggest listings on his CV.NirvanaAT age 17, Grohl quit school and joined Washington hardcore/metal band Scream (he told them he was 20). When the act combusted in 1990 after two albums with the self-taught Grohl on drums, The Melvins' Buzz Osborne put him touch with Cobain and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, who had just kicked out drummer Chad Channing. The rest, as they say, is history. From the second he smashes that snare six and a half seconds into Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana became a world-beating alternative act. Aside from contributing the percussive background to Cobain's howling angst, he also came up with the riff for Scentless Apprentice and penned and sang popular b-side Marigold, signalling things to come.Foo FightersIN the wake of Cobain's death in April '94, Grohl went underground for six months before flirting with the idea of joining Tom Petty's band and Pearl Jam, but his heart was in pursuing his own music. While in Nirvana he quietly released a hard-to-find cassette album under the name Late!, but for his debut album under the name Foo Fighters, he found himself in the middle of a record-label bidding war. Playing all the instruments, the self-titled album was a minor alternative hit and is a post-grunge classic. Grohl built a band around him and each subsequent release has earned increasing acclaim, making Foo Fighters one of the biggest rock bands in the world.Queens Of The Stone AgeIN between Foo Fighters' albums, Grohl stepped behind the drums for QOTSA's third record. The result is the perfect collision of Grohl's John Bonham-style epic beats and guitarist Josh Homme's monster riffs. Barnstorming lead single No One Knows topped Triple J's Hottest 100 in 2002 and the band had four other tracks in the poll (amazingly Grohl played on 10 of the 100 tracks in that year's list). He remained on the drum stool for a tour before rejoining the Foos, but his lasting legacy with QOTSA is helping craft their greatest album to date.ProbotON some Foo Fighters downtime in 2000, Grohl started recording instrumental metal songs with the idea of getting his favourite screamers of the '80s to provide the vocals. It took a few years, thanks to scheduling and label conflicts, but finally it came out to mostly rave reviews. For Grohl it was a homage to roots, but it also showcased his darker side. The drumming is superb and his guitarwork helps perfectly traverse metal's many sub-genre's gearing each song to the singer, including Motorhead's Lemmy (the awesome Shake Your Blood), Sepultra's Max Cavalera (Red War), Napalm Death's Lee Dorrian (Ice Cold Man), and The Obsessed's Wino (The Emerald Law).Them Crooked VulturesMEET Them Crooked Vultures - the best supergroup of the new millenium. Featuring Grohl on drums again, QOTSA's Homme on guitar and "the quiet Zeppelin" John Paul Jones on bass, the power trio dropped their self-titled debut last week and it's already getting touted as album of the year in some quarters. Mixing hard-rock grooves with angular left-turns and driving choruses, the album is an alt-rock wet dream come true.