Pantera Made Dave Grohl the Nicest Guy in Rock
For a while now, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has been referred to by many as ‘the nicest guy in rock.’ I briefly met him a 
few years back and he didn’t get security to kick my ass, so I can attest to this a bit.
During Grohl’s interview sessions for his current Rolling Stone cover story, he explained to reporter David Fricke about why he’s become one of music’s most affable figures – turns out, we can all thank Pantera for this.
Just ahead of the England edition of Ozzfest in 1998, Korn cancelled their slot and a band was needed. Foo Fighters got the call and were set to play alongside Black Sabbath, Slayer, and Pantera, the latter of which they’d follow on stage. Grohl was “terrified,” fearful of getting “quartered,” and expected no one to like his band.
“But we played, and I looked to the side,” recalled Grohl. “The guys from Pantera are watching us and singing the lyrics to our songs. Afterwards we made friends with Pantera. I was nervous and scared; I didn’t think I fit in. But they were so open to us. That backstage hospitality we try to have – it all came from Pantera. [Guitarist] Dimebag Darrell was the nicest fucking guy in the world. He could walk in and do a shot of Crown Royal with Justin Bieber, with Rick Nielsen, with James Brown – he was everybody’s best friend. And you could feel that energy when he was playing.
He continued: “After that day, I was like, ‘From now on, everybody’s allowed in this room. I don’t care if it’s Britney Spears.’ I became the backstage best friend. Whenever I showed up at a festival, the first thing I’d do is grab a bottle of whiskey and go knocking on doors to see who the funniest people are. You’d be surprised who the real fucking nutcases are.”
-Adam Grant
Please be sure to follow us on Twitter @riffyou and at Facebook.com/riffyou.
