The hitchhiker responsible for Foo Fighters forming has been identified
Dave Grohl has previously explained how happening upon a stranger in Ireland helped him come to terms with Kurt Cobain's death.
The hitchhiker responsible for Foo Fighters’ formation has finally been identified.
In 2021, Dave Grohl told the story of picking up a stranger wearing a Nirvana t-shirt in rural Ireland, and how it helped him come to terms with the death of Kurt Cobain.
He told The Graham Norton Show: “When Kurt died and it all ended I didn’t know what to do with my life,” he said. “I couldn’t listen to music anymore because it hurt too much so I tried to escape and went to Ireland to soul search.
“I was trying to figure out my life when I picked up a hitchhiker who was wearing a Kurt Cobain t-shirt and I thought, ‘Even in this remote place I can’t outrun life’, so I went home and started over with the Foo Fighters. I needed to survive and get on with life.”
Now, X user Eoin Tighe has identified the hitchhiker as his cousin, Lorcan Dunne. He shared a photo from that era alongside footage of Grohl’s explanation interspersed with Lorcan discussing it with friends.
Tighe wrote: “So my legend of a cousin Lorcan just realised he was kind of important to the creation of Foo Fighters. He saw a video by Dave Grohl talking about why he got back to work after a visit to Ireland. Lorcan was out hitchhiking wearing his nirvana top when Dave stopped.”
In the video, the hitchhiker says: “I saw a car there so I thought I’d run up and hitch. When I was hitching, I looked [for] who was sitting in the passenger seat, but it was David Grohl!”
He added: “I didn’t recognise him firstly, but I saw this look of shock on the guy’s face. I had a Nirvana t-shirt on with Kurt Cobain on it. It was black tie-dye with Kurt where he has mascara on his face. Next thing, the car just tore off away. Nobody believed me.
“Then about two weeks ago, I saw this video of Dave Grohl talking about him being in the Ring of Kerry and touring around the area. And I was like, ‘There you go, that was me!’”
“So you made the Foo Fighters!” one friend shouts at Lorcan, to which he gives a big cheer.