The Big Reason Dave Grohl Might Have Beef With Taylor Swift
While it generally seems like Dave Grohl can do no wrong, the Foo Fighters frontman may have finally found himself on the wrong side of millions of Taylor Swift fans. The incident started in London where both acts were playing multiple nights on the same dates in June 2024. Reviews of both shows were glowing, but Grohl took time during the Foo Fighters "Everything or Nothing at All" tour on June 22 to take a potshot at Taylor, who is on her "Eras" tour.
Pop Base posted the video on X, formerly known as Twitter showing Grohl saying to a cheering crowd, "I tell you, man, you don't want to suffer the wrath of Taylor Swift. We like to call our tour the 'Errors Tour.' We've had more than a few eras, and more than a few f****** errors as well. Just a couple. That's because we actually play live. Whaaaat!? Just saying. You guys like raw, live rock 'n' roll music, right? You came to the right f****** place."
Though he said this seemingly in jest, Swift took an opportunity at her own show the next night to point out that the members of her band do, in fact, play live. It's not clear why Grohl made the accusation, and we aren't even sure what's true, but it seemed to come out of left field a bit because in the past Grohl has said that he is a fan of Swift.
Dave Grohl has sang Taylor Swift's praises in the past
In 2015 Taylor Swift opened for the Foo Fighters. When his band took the stage, he said to the audience, "I'm officially obsessed," joking, "she might want to get a restraining order. I'm all about Swift. I'm going to dedicate this song to Taylor Swift, how about that? This one goes out to my opening band, Taylor Swift" (via BBC Radio1/X).
Years later, Grohl even credited Swift with getting him out of an uncomfortable situation at a party given by Paul McCartney. According to Loudersound, Grohl told an audience at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity that he "maybe smoked a little pot — so I was already challenged," when people in the room started urging Grohl to perform a song. The instruments available, a piano and left-handed guitars, were not something he said he could play, but Swift offered to play the piano with him. He said it was "like Batman when you need him." What's more, she started playing the Foo Fighters "Best of You." Grohl said, "As if I weren't high enough – that blew me into outer space! Taylor Swift, 'Best of You,' Paul McCartney ... I lost my mind."
All that said, it's curious why Grohl felt like taking a shot at the woman who he has openly admired in the past. However, he may have a lost some of his luster for Swift when her fans came after his 17-year-old daughter, Violet, earlier in 2024 for criticizing Swift on social media for taking private jets during her "Eras" tour. Violet later took down the comments, per Vanity Fair.
Taylor Swift claps back
Possibly in response to Grohl's accusation, the next night during her concert, Taylor Swift took a moment to thank her band and pointed out that they not only play live, but they do so for a pretty long set. Swift said to the crowd, "Every one of my band members, every single one of our crew, my band who's going be playing live for you for three-and-a-half hours tonight, they deserve this so much. And so does every one of my fellow performers. And you just gave that to us so generously, we will never forget it" (via Taylor Swift Updates/X).
As for whether Swift's shows are all 100% live, according to Distractify, it's not really out there as public knowledge. One thing the outlet did report was that it's pretty well accepted that she may use some pre-recorded backing tracks of her own voice so that it sounds more like the studio versions of her songs. Still, she appears to sing the lead vocals, and according to the "Anti-Hero" singer, her band plays live too.