If Dave Grohl had auditioned for American Idol, would he have snagged a golden ticket to the Hollywood rounds (coincidentally taking place this week)?
Not a chance, the Foo Fighters frontman told CBS’ 60 Minutes on Sunday night. “I would never make it.”
In a candid interview with Anderson Cooper, Grohl slammed Idol and other singing shows for squashing aspiring vocalists, asserting that singers who are now rock legends would never pass the first audition.
“Who’s to say they’re not good or not?” Grohl offered. “Imagine Bob Dylan standing there singing ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ in front of those judges? ‘Sorry, it’s a little nasally and a little flat. Next.’ ”
Grohl, who was promoting Foo Fighters’ forthcoming album, Sonic Highways (out Nov. 11), and accompanying HBO show, added that differences in vocals are what makes an artist unique in the first place. “People need to appreciate their voice,” he said. “I don’t want to sing like someone else, I want to sing like me.”
Just this past summer, Linda Perry made the same argument with a parody of the Fox singing show, taking on the persona of vapid pop star “Blue Stone” and rejecting Dylan and Janis Joplin as they auditioned for the fictional competition.
Twitter: @MicheleAmabile, @Idol_Worship
