Shirley Manson: "I love Dave Grohl with a passion"

8 April 2024, 16:08

Garbage singer Shirley Manson and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. Picture: Andrew Chin/Getty Images, Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Harley-Davidson

By Jenny Mensah

The Garbage singer has praised the Foo Fighters frontman and recalled the time he drummed on their Bad Boyfriend track.

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Shirley Manson has praised Dave Grohl and recalled the time he "sprinkled his fairy dust" on their Bad Boyfriend song.

Garbage are set to celebrate the (almost) 20th anniversary of their Bleed Like Me album with a reissue on 5 April this year and their iconic singer has recalled the difficulties they had with their label not supporting them.

Despite having a difficult relationship with the 2005 album, Manson fondly remembers the fact Dave Grohl drummed on the record's opening track, which gave a "big boost" to the band.

"Dave Grohl is the most incredible expanse of joy that you can hope to meet as a human being," she gushed to NME. "Him stepping in and playing on Bad Boyfriend was a big boost to the male members of the band.

"He was a really good friend with [Garbage drummer and Nevermind producer] Butch [Vig], of course, through their work with Nirvana. I had very little to do with it, but I had very little to do with the members of the band at this point. That’s the eternal loneliness of being the only female in a male band, but that’s a whole other story."

"I love Dave Grohl with a passion, as does the world," added the Stupid Girl singer. "He’s really something. He came in and bolstered the flagging spirits of my male counterparts and sprinkled his fairy dust on our record. We have that for all eternity.”

Manson also recalled the fact that a famous rock star, who she will not name, sat in a management meeting with her label where bosses voted to support No Doubt over her Garbage.

“I shan’t name [the rockstar] because I don’t want to cause too many ruptures,” said the frontwoman. “He’s really gorgeous and I love this person, but we got drunk together and he told me that he’d been present at an Interscope meeting where our future as a band had been discussed and there was a vote taken at the table where they decided if they were going to spend money on No Doubt or on Garbage. They decided to invest in No Doubt.:

She went on: "No Doubt are friends of ours, we love them dearly and this has no bearing on them whatsoever, but to hear that from a well-known and highly regarded rockstar was devastating. He told me this story, and then it was war. I wasn’t going to do fuck all for that record label ever again."

Meanwhile, Garbage are set to embark on UK & European dates this year, which will culminate in a show at London's OVO Arena Wembley.