10 Stars Of Rock & Metal With Famous Second Bands

At aged 21, Dave Grohl landed the gig of a lifetime when he took over the drum stool for Nirvana in 1990. Together they would release the platinum selling, Nevermind (1991), with the success of the album’s lead single, Smells Like Teen Spirit, making them worldwide stars. Kurt Cobain was naturally the face of the band as Nirvana themselves became the face of the grunge music scene, but Cobain was not cut out for the fame that followed and struggled to manage the adulation his music achieved for him.

Kurt also battled with substance abuse, and in 1994, after Nirvana had released their follow-up album, In Utero, and recorded their legendary MTV Unplugged In New York performance, Cobain committed suicide. The music world was devastated, and in losing his friend and mentor Dave Grohl’s world turned upside down. He was at a loss, but eventually decided to book some studio time and record a number of songs that he had written while on the road with Nirvana. Songs he had always been nervous to play to Cobain.

Grohl performed all of the instruments himself and his demo received unprecedented attention. He signed to Capitol Records, and Foo Fighters' debut album was released to great aplomb in 1995. The rest, as they say, is history, and Foo Fighters would go from strength to strength with each subsequent album release, growing to become one of the most successful bands of the 2000s, with Grohl becoming one of the most recognisable rock stars in the world.