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  • -My first guest tonight is a 16-time Grammy winner.

  • Grammy winner!

  • And he is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Well deserved.

  • His band Foo Fighters are celebrating more than 25 years

  • of making awesome music together with the release

  • of their new album, "Medicine at Midnight."

  • Listen to it now.

  • Here is Dave Grohl!

  • Oh, my goodness, Dave Grohl, it is great to see you.

  • Thanks so much for coming on the show.

  • Congrats on the new album, "Medicine at Midnight."

  • This just came out on Friday.

  • But you were going to release it last year, correct?

  • -Well, yeah. So, we actually --

  • We started recording this record like mid-2019.

  • And we were like,

  • "2020 is going to be the best year our band has ever had."

  • We're like, "It's our 25th anniversary.

  • It's our 10th record. We're going to tour the world.

  • There's, like, stadiums.

  • So let's make a party record.

  • Yeah, we'll make these songs that have, like, groove,

  • and they're going to make people bounce.

  • And it's going to be the stadiums --

  • festivals are gonna --" And then everyone went just pbht!

  • -[ Laughs ] -No way it's gonna happen.

  • And so we basically just sat on it.

  • We were like, "Okay, let's wait.

  • Let's wait for a while and see if things go back to 'normal.'"

  • And then after like eight months,

  • it was like, "Dude, just put it out!

  • Come on! Let's give it to the people.

  • Let's go." So that's it.

  • -How does it feel to finally have it out?

  • -I mean, I've never given birth before.

  • -[ Laughs ]

  • -Women hate when you compare anything to childbirth.

  • -Uh-huh. -But honestly, it's just like --

  • [ Groaning ] And they're like --

  • [ Mimicking crying ]

  • And then you just give it up for adoption, is what you do.

  • -I love it 'cause there's so many different sounds on this.

  • Someone has called it your party record.

  • What inspired the different sounds in this one?

  • Just the 25 years?

  • -Yeah, I mean, honestly, like,

  • we looked back at all of the things that we'd done.

  • And, you know, we've done, like, loud, dissonant,

  • heavy, sort of punk rock, crazy music.

  • And then, we've also done, like, lots of acoustic stuff,

  • and stuff that's more orchestrated and gentle,

  • and then everything in between.

  • But the one thing that we had never really done was make

  • kind of, like, you know, like a groove-oriented --

  • it's hard to call it a dance record.

  • Listen, if I say -- -No.

  • -If you put the word "dance" in the same sentence

  • as Foo Fighters,

  • people are like, "I think I might throw --

  • I think I just threw up in my mouth."

  • Like, "You can't do that."

  • -I wouldn't say it's a dance record. No.

  • But there are some grooves on here.

  • The title track is my jam, "Medicine at Midnight."

  • It's kind of like a Bowie,

  • like almost like a "Let's Dance-y" type of --

  • there might even be like -- [ Mimicking wood tapping ]

  • there's that woodblock or something happening.

  • You're like, "Mm! Oh!"

  • -It's got it in there. Well, this is the thing.

  • It's like, okay, so, we're roughly the same age,

  • grew up listening to rock bands that made albums

  • that you could do the Molly Ringwald dance to,

  • and, like, you know, albums that you could,

  • like, kind of get down to, like David Bowie records

  • or Rolling Stones records, and even long before that,

  • Sly and the Family Stone kind of stuff.

  • We were all raised on that type of music.

  • We never really figured that --

  • We never thought we would apply that to what we do.

  • But I was like, "Why not?" -Yeah.

  • -You're like, "At this point, it's like everything

  • I say is a dad joke, everything I wear is a dad --

  • they're, like, sweatpants and Crocs or whatever."

  • So, I'm like, "Okay, it's time to -- let's do this.

  • Like, I want to see a stadium doing this."

  • -Why not? -You know?

  • -No, it's such a good groove.

  • You know I was gonna ask you, as far as Bowie,

  • have you ever -- did you ever work with Bowie or meet him?

  • -I did.

  • A long, long time ago,

  • he had his 50th birthday party at Madison Square Garden.

  • I think it was like 1997 maybe.

  • And we were invited to play at his birthday party.

  • There were a lot of other artists there.

  • Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins was there,

  • Robert Smith from The Cure was there, Charles from the Pixies,

  • all these different artists, Sonic Youth.

  • And so we got to meet there.

  • And then not long after that, he was in Los Angeles,

  • and I was asked by his guitarist if I wanted to come play drums

  • on a song that he was recording.

  • So I got to record with Bowie.

  • I got to watch him step in front of a microphone,

  • do one take perfectly,

  • and the sound out of his mouth was David Bowie.

  • It absolutely blew my mind.

  • And then years later,

  • I was asked to do a song for a movie soundtrack.

  • They didn't want the Foo Fighters. They just wanted me.

  • But I didn't feel comfortable just doing a solo thing.

  • So I thought, "Oh, I'll do an instrumental track

  • and have someone else sing."

  • So I contacted Bowie.

  • And I said, "Here, listen to this thing.

  • Maybe you'd like to sing on it."

  • And time went by. I didn't hear anything.

  • Finally, I got an e-mail back, and he said,

  • "David, I like the instrumental, but this time --"

  • It was, like, a Marvel movie kind of thing.

  • He's like, "This is not really my trip,

  • not my genre of film and stuff.

  • I'd love to work with you at some point.

  • But I don't think this is the time."

  • And so I'm sitting in my living room reading this like,

  • "Oh, my God, David Bowie writes e-mails.

  • This is blowing my mind right now."

  • So I immediately e-mailed back something very --

  • I didn't want to take up more of his time.

  • -Yep. -So I said,

  • "Thanks for responding. I hope you're well. Take care."

  • And then one minute later he e-mails back and he says,

  • "Well, that's settled then.

  • Now [bleep] off."

  • -[ Laughs ] Come on. Come on!

  • -And I'm like, "Oh, my God. Holy crap.

  • David Bowie just told me to [bleep] off."

  • And so I e-mailed back, and I hadn't seen him

  • since his birthday party at Madison Square Garden.

  • I said, "Well, I guess I'll see you in another 15 years."

  • And he goes, "Not if I see you first."

  • -He's being funny.

  • -And I'm like -- Well, I didn't know that!

  • I was like, "David Bowie thinks I'm an [bleep]!"

  • And so we went back and forth until I realized like,

  • "Oh, he's just being funny." Whatever.

  • But, yes, he was an incredible guy.

  • And we wound up having these really funny

  • e-mail exchanges just out of the blue.

  • Like, he would e-mail me in like June and say,

  • "Well, happy new year."

  • And I'd be like, "What?"

  • And so then we'd go back and forth, and I'd say,

  • "Drink some day, yes?"

  • And he'd immediately e-mail back and say, "I will, thanks."

  • And I'm like -- I couldn't tell, you know.

  • I'd say, oh, like, he's on a health kick.

  • I'm like, "Nuts and muffins?"

  • And he'd e-mail back and say, "Those are my attorneys."

  • -[ Laughs ] -[Bleep] like that.

  • -Nuts and muffins.

  • He's brilliantly funny.

  • I remember I went to some event once.

  • And I went, and I honestly put on a --

  • I was such a fashion victim, but I put on a long raincoat,

  • like, a tan raincoat or something.

  • And I walked in, and I see Bowie.

  • It's full-on "Dancing in the Street."

  • Basically I'm wearing that, but I can't pull it off

  • because I don't have his face or anything.

  • So I walk in, and he's there with Iman,

  • and I go, "How are you?

  • He goes, "Raincoat? Really?"

  • I was like, "It's the whole thing."

  • It's so embarrassing. -Jimmy, oh, my God!

  • You know what? Listen. I just remembered.

  • Remember the Fourth of July at the White House?

  • -[ Laughing ] Oh, my God. -Remember the Fourth of July

  • at the White House? I just remembered this.

  • -I was sweating my brains out.

  • -I know because you were wearing a three-piece suit.

  • You looked like Mark Twain. I don't know.

  • You showed up to the White House,

  • and I remember we walked upstairs to meet the President,

  • and he's wearing, like, khakis and Izod or whatever.

  • And remember? He was like,

  • "Damn, man, you're a little overdressed for a picnic."

  • It was a picnic! -Totally making fun of me.

  • Michelle -- They were laughing at me, because you guys come in.

  • I see you. I go --

  • I'm opening up for the Foo Fighters there.

  • It's for veterans.

  • It was an outdoor thing.

  • I'll do a little stand-up, something.

  • I'm wearing a three-piece suit.

  • I've never been invited to the White House.

  • I'm freaking out. I see you. I go, "What's up?"

  • And you're just cool

  • and you're wearing, like, board shorts or whatever.

  • And you were like, "Yeah, dude, are you hot?"

  • And I go, "Yeah, I am. It's like 100 degrees."

  • And Taylor was like -- Dude. I think Pat was like --

  • You all were kind of laughing like, "Put a T-shirt on, man.

  • You don't have to. It's an outdoor event."

  • I go, "I'm fine."

  • And we all walked up.

  • You guys talked to the President

  • and Michelle for a while, the First Lady.

  • And then I got walked in, totally covered in sweat.

  • Sweating through my collar. It was a different color shirt.

  • And they both were laughing.

  • And Michelle was like, "Can I loosen your tie?"

  • And, yeah, President Barack Obama said,

  • "Jimmy, didn't you get the memo? It's a barbecue."

  • -[ Laughs ]

  • That's right! I remember.

  • But you know what? The other thing I remember is,

  • like, when we first got there, of course, you know,

  • there's Secret Service

  • and all this security and stuff like that.

  • And we're like -- It's us and a road crew.

  • So, like, we're like pirates, okay?

  • We're setting up.

  • And there was someone that briefed us,

  • and they basically said, "Here's the deal.

  • If anyone has to use the bathroom,

  • there's bathrooms over there, there's bathrooms over there.

  • Whatever you do, don't go pee in the bushes,

  • because there's people in the bushes."

  • We're like, "Wow!"

  • -It's the White House.

  • It's the White House. -Yeah.

-My first guest tonight is a 16-time Grammy winner.

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