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Dave Grohl has pulled many all-nighters in his life. As the frontman of a successful rock band, it’s understandable. Many musicians and artists forgo sleep to perfect their music. Stevie Nicks and Madonna don’t hit the pillow until the early morning, and Prince never seemed to sleep at all.

However, Grohl likes to do daytime activities late at night.

Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins in Sydney, Australia, 2017.
Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins | Richard Dobson/Newspix/Getty Images

Taylor Hawkins said Dave Grohl pulled all-nighters to barbecue

In 2021, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins told Rolling Stone about Grohl’s recording process. He said it was like Grohl’s late-night barbecues.

“Dave loves to grill,” Hawkins said. “The reason Dave loves to grill is because there’s a beginning and a middle and an end to the project. And he is very, very focused when he is focused on what he wants to do.

“So when we make an album, he shows up with the charts, these are the song ideas, here are some demos, blah, blah, blah, blah. Work our way at it. It’s all very well-prepared and well-thought-out and well-constructed.

“And it’s because it’s just like when he does barbecue for 75 people, and he doesn’t mind that he doesn’t get any sleep for 30 hours, he’s fine. Sits there and smokes cigarettes and texts and f***ing checks the beef every f***ing half an hour or whatever.

“It’s literally 30 hours. He stays up for 30 hours sometimes without drugs. Well, nicotine, but yeah, no, without drugs. Maybe a little bit of booze or whatever, but no, he’s a f***ing beast. He is a beast. There’s no competing. You won’t win. You can’t compete with Dave. He’s the winner.”

When Grohl doesn’t pull all-nighters, he wakes up at 5 A.M. every day

Whatever time Grohl hits the hay, he wakes up at 5 a.m. every day, no matter what, according to Kerrang! Being a father of three, an 18-time Grammy winner, a director, and an extreme barbecuer, Grohl has to pack a lot into his day. He’s always on the go.

So, what keeps him going? Tons of coffee.

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The Foo Fighters frontman said he’s addicted to coffee

In 2010, Grohl made a hilarious video called “Fresh Pots” about his real-life coffee addiction with his Them Crooked Vultures bandmates.

Grohl talked about the video on an episode of Good For You Podcast with Whitney Cummings. Grohl said he was addicted to coffee and admitted that his coffee addiction once put him in the hospital. He said he had a problem.

Grohl said, “I had to go to the hospital once for drinking too much coffee, I was having chest pains, I thought I was dying. This is 10 years ago.

“The whole ‘Fresh Pots’ thing, that was real. That was a real thing, and I drank so much coffee over the course of three weeks that I started having chest pains, and I thought I was having a heart attack. But we were about to go play at the White House on the 4th of July.

“So, I put Bayer Asprin in my wallet and drank a lot of red wine… to keep myself from dying. So, played D.C., came home, called my doctor, and I’m like, ‘Mel, I’m having chest pains right now.'”

Grohl’s doctor ran some tests and concluded that he was drinking too much coffee. For “Fresh Pots” 10th anniversary, Grohl and Foo Fighters made another hilarious video about Grohl’s recovery from excessive coffee drinking for Saturday Night Live.

Hopefully, cutting down on coffee allowed Grohl to have a good night’s rest. Although it’s doubtful he’ll stop pulling all-nighters to barbecue.

How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.

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