DAVE GROHL On Performing 'Highway To Hell' With AC/DC: 'I Walked Off Stage And I Broke Down In Tears'

In a new interview with Rog of New Zealand's biggest rock radio station The Rock, FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl spoke about the experience of opening for AC/DC at two shows on the recently completed 2027 leg of the legendary hard rock band's "Power Up" tour. Grohl said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[AC/DC] had the band THE PRETTY RECKLESS on tour with them for years. And we've been friends with THE PRETTY RECKLESS for a long time. And [THE PRETTY RECKLESS singer] Taylor Momsen couldn't make one show, so she called, she's, like, 'Man, I can't make this one show. Do you think you could fill in?' And I looked at the calendar. I'm, like, 'Oh my God, it's a day off.' And so when we got there, it was unbelievable playing for [AC/DC]. And then it happened again. Taylor couldn't make it to another show, so we went to that one. And at that one, I got to get up on stage and jam with them."

Reflecting on what it was like to join AC/DC on stage on October 2 at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, Grohl said: "It was so crazy because my wife was on the side of the stage. We played 'Highway To Hell'. I walked off stage and I broke down in tears, sobbing like a baby. I was sobbing, like wailing, sobbing, and I couldn't believe it. I was, like, 'That is one of the most full-circle moments of my entire life,' and I will never forget it. And just so you know, that is the loudest stage I have ever stood on in my entire life. More than MOTÖRHEAD, more than any other band. AC/DC is the loudest band in the world, I think."

Grohl also once again talked about the important role AC/DC has played in his life and why he was thrilled to open for the band for a second time.

"I was 11 years old," he recalled. "I spent the night at my friend's house, and his dad said, 'Hey, I'll take you to this midnight movie.' And so we go to this movie. And I'd heard their songs, but I'd never witnessed them playing. And it was the 'Let There Be Rock' film. And watching a band go on stage and just destroy the stage and equipment and themselves for an hour and a half… I didn't know that that's how you play rock and roll. I thought rock and roll was like BEATLES and KISS and things like that. I'd never seen someone so drenched in sweat that they needed an oxygen tank. I was, like, 'That's what I wanna be when I grow up. I wanna be that guy.'"

Asked what he thinks keeps AC/DC guitarist Angus Young going at age 71, almost a decade after the passing of Angus's brother, AC/DC co-founder and rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, Grohl said: "'Cause he loves to do it. I swear to God, it's the same thing for any [rock artist that has been around for several decades], whether it's [THE ROLLING] STONES, whether it's [Paul] McCartney, whether it's AC/DC, the thing that keeps them on stage is their love of rock and roll and their love of doing it. And it's a real thing. I think it can lend to this longevity. If you love it so much that even on your worst day, that's the best three hours of your entire day, it's, like, that's what keeps you going."

FOO FIGHTERS was added as the support act for AC/DC at MetLife Stadium after the Brian Johnson-fronted band was forced to postpone its gig at the venue on September 25 due to a nor'easter storm.

The gig came less than a month after FOO FIGHTERS stepped up to open for AC/DC in St. Louis on September 8. The Grohl-led outfit filled in for the tour's booked opener, THE PRETTY RECKLESS, which was unable to play the gig because singer Taylor Momsen was in Seattle on September 9 to join the surviving members of SOUNDGARDEN during the halftime show at the Seattle Seahawks' home opener.

When the FOO FIGHTERS' St. Louis gig was first announced, Grohl said in a statement: "I remember it like it was yesterday… It was AC/DC's 1980 concert film 'Let There Be Rock' that truly introduced me to the raw, primal power of rock and roll performance for the first time. Sure, I had BEATLES records, I had KISS posters, I had an old, broken acoustic guitar with a few strings that I would pretend to play in front of the hallway closet mirror when no one was home, but it wasn't until that fateful night at the tender age of eleven years old that my best friend, Larry Hinkle and I went downtown to the Uptown theater in Washington D.C. and actually witnessed it on full display.

"Watching from the edge of my seat the entire time, it was like nothing I had ever experienced before. How could five human beings conjure and possess such intensity onstage with just their instruments, and do so with such swagger, such groove….and such danger? My mind was blown. Melted. Changed forever. And my heart felt like it might explode with passion and inspiration.

"From that night on, the bar was set exceptionally high. If you were a drummer and you didn't have to change your snare drum between songs from pummeling it to splinters, you weren't hitting it hard enough. If you were a guitarist and you didn't need oxygen on the side of the stage between solos, you weren't playing hard enough. If you were a frontman in a band and you weren't drenched in sweat by the end of the show, you weren't giving the audience what they deserve (All of these moments can be witnessed in this legendary film).

"It's safe to say that if it weren't for this movie, this band, and their decades of timeless anthems, I surely would have approached my life in music from a different perspective. So, if you have ever seen me beat the living shit out of a drum set, or run from side to side of a stage drenched in sweat after hours of hammering my guitar to pieces, you'll now understand why. All I have ever wanted was to someday live up to the awe inspiring fury of AC/DC, live onstage (an impossible task, by the way).

"And now, for the first time since that fateful night in 1980, my band FOO FIGHTERS will share a stage with the gentlemen who are single handedly responsible for my determination to give every audience everything I have, every night. This is literally a dream come true. So…..if you want blood….you've got it."

In a March 2021 interview with "Anders Bøtters Tiny TV", Grohl reflected on the first time he met AC/DC. He said: "I wasn't performing at the Grammys; I was presenting an award or something. I'm lucky to say that Paul McCartney is a friend, and I love him very much. As much as he's a hero of mine, he's also a very sweet man and a friend. And so he was in town too. And he called and said, 'What are you doing after the Grammys?' I said, 'I think maybe me and [FOO FIGHTERS bandmates] Pat [Smear] and Taylor [Hawkins] are just gonna have dinner.' And he said, 'Do you mind if me and Nancy [Paul's wife] come?' I'm, like, 'No. That'd be great.' So then he bumps into AC/DC in a hotel or something. And then they say, 'What are you doing after the show?' And he says, 'I'm gonna go have dinner with the FOO FIGHTERS.' And Paul said, 'Do you wanna come?' So Paul's wife calls my wife, and then my wife says, 'Hey, do you mind if AC/DC comes to dinner?' And I had never met AC/DC.

"When I was maybe — I don't know — 10 years old, I went to see that movie 'Let There Be Rock', the [AC/DC] live concert film, in a movie theater," Dave continued. "This is before I was punk rock. That was the first time I saw a performance and heard music that made me wanna fucking break something. And still to this day, I use that as reference for how I like to play a show. I wanna be like AC/DC 'Let There Be Rock'. That's a live band."

Circling back to the first time he met AC/DC, Dave concluded: "So then we had this beautiful night. And there was this jazz band. And it was one of the greatest nights of my entire life."

After Malcolm Young died in November 2017, Grohl posted a touching tribute to AC/DC's founding rhythm guitarist on social media. He wrote: "37 years ago, my friend Larry Hinkle and I went to see a midnight movie on a Friday night at the Uptown Theater in Washington D.C. It was 1980. We were 11 years old. The movie was 'Let There Be Rock'. And it changed my life.

"That film, a live AC/DC performance from Paris [in] 1979, is everything that live [rock] and roll should be. Sweaty. Loose. Loud. A relentless performance from the perfect band. It was the first time I lost control to music. The first time I wanted to be in a band. I didn't want to play my guitar anymore, I wanted to smash it.

"Thank you, Malcolm, for the songs, and the feel, and the cool, and the years of losing control to your rock and roll."

FOO FIGHTERS' latest album, "Your Favorite Toy", came out in April via Roswell Records/RCA Records.

"Your Favorite Toy" was co-produced by FOO FIGHTERS and Oliver Roman, engineered by Oliver Roman and mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent.