Dave Grohl Opens Up About the Loss of Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington

2017-09-14

Story by Charles Ken

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl says anyone dealing with depression should get help

With the tragedies of both Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington taking their own lives this year, Dave Grohl is openly discussing how he feels about depression.

The Foo Fighters frontman doesn’t judge Cornell or Bennington for falling prey to the disease of depression.

“When it comes to someone like Chris Cornell or Chester, depression is a disease,” Grohl said n a new interview with New Zealand radio station The Rock FM. “Everybody kinda goes through it their own way.”

“I can’t speak for anybody else’s condition, but the hardest part is when you lose a friend,” Grohl added. “And I just always immediately think of their families and their band mates.”

For Grohl, these suicides hit close to home. Grohl’s band mate in Nirvana, singer Kurt Cobain, committed suicide in the ’90s. Both Nirvana and Cornell’s band Soundgarden were staples of the ’90s Seattle scene and culture.

“Chris was such a beautiful guy, man,” Grohl said. “He was the sweetest person, he was so talented, he had so much to offer…it was a real shock to hear that he had gone.”

Grohl says anyone dealing with depression or suicidal thoughts should definitely get help. It’s part of taking care of oneself.

“Mental health and depression is something that people should really take seriously,” Grohl said. “There’s a stigma attached to it that’s unfortunate, because just as you take care of yourselves in every other way, I think it’s important that people really try to take care of themselves in that way, too.”

Photo credit: Brantley Gutierrez