Dave Grohl + His Mom Loved Phoebe Bridgers’ Guitar-Smashing ‘SNL’ Performance
Dave Grohl is a genuine authenticator of what is rock 'n' roll and what is not. Weighing in on the controversy surrounding indie rocker Phoebe Bridgers and her decision to smash a guitar during her performance on Saturday Night Live, the Foo Fighters frontman beamed with excitement over the moment and relayed his mom shared the same feelings.
The comments from the rocker, who is a candidate for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2021 with the Foo Fighters, came during an early morning appearance on The Howard Stern Show.
Stern mentioned the back and forth exchanges on Twitter between Bridgers and folk rock legend David Crosby (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young), where Crosby had expressed disdain at the very concept of smashing a guitar and ultimately called her "pathetic."
Bridgers, who has received flak from the Internet community for being wasteful during a time of need for so many (she smashed an $85 guitar on a fake stage monitor), replied, "Little bitch."
Grohl deflected and, rather than comment on the Twitter spat directly, he took the opportunity to recognize what a standout moment it was for the rock genre on the whole.
"First of all — you have to understand that for the last 10 years, every interview I do I’m asked, ‘Is rock and roll dead? There’s no guitars anymore!’ So in the last year, there’s been this return to guitar rock music in popular music — like, Miley Cyrus is becoming Joan Jett…. You’re starting to see, people are realizing rock 'n' roll is cool," he enthused (transcription via Consequence of Sound).
"I saw that performance — I actually talked to my mom about it," Grohl continued, now focused on the moment that has left people divided on whether the stunt was appropriate.
His mother asked if he had seen Saturday Night Live, to which he said he had. The rocker recalled, "She goes, ‘What did you think about that girl Phoebe?’ I’m like, 'she’s got a beautiful voice, she can really sing.' My mother was like, 'I loved it, I thought she was great!'"
Speaking from the perspective of experience, Grohl added, "When you watch us jam and freak out and do our thing… I think that’s what they did. It was every fucking night [with Nirvana] — my drums had holes in them from Kurt [Cobain] fucking chopping my drums."
The Foos mastermind concluded, "I’ve seen enough smashed guitars. It feels fucking good to do it."