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Dave Grohl was inspired to play guitar by The Beatles

Dave Grohl learned to "play guitar" thanks to The Beatles, and honed his drumming skills because he wanted to be as good as Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.

Dave Grohl was inspired to play guitar by The Beatles

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Dave Grohl learned to "play guitar" thanks to The Beatles.

The Foo Fighters frontman was presented with the iconic group's greatest hits collections, along with a book of their music, by his mother when he was younger, and spent hours honing his skills by playing along to the records.

Speaking to Mojo magazine, he said: "That's really where I learned to play guitar. I would put an album on, find the page with the song, try to play along according to this simple music sheet, almost like I was in a band in my bedroom, trying to follow along with these other players.

"I'd have to remember an arrangement, and changes and tempo and melody. So those two albums were my music teacher when I was young."

And the former Nirvana drummer was also driven to work on his sticks skills by another talented musician, after he realised his ability was not a patch on Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.

He said: "'The Song Remains the Same' blew my mind. That's when I really became a drummer, listening to that album and realising how poor a drummer I actually was.

"I'd been learning to play drums on pillows, listening to the Bad Brains and Minor Threat.

"When I heard the power and clarity of John Bonham on that CD, I thought, I've got a lot of work to do."

Dave, 48, even credits the 1980 AC/DC concert film, 'Let There Be Rock', for the high energy of Foo Fighters performances.

He explained: "I saw that movie when I was 10 or 11 years old ... I had never seen a performance like that. So the energy and the simplicity totally blew my mind.

"It was the first time I'd ever listened to music that made me want to smash windows. Then I bought the record.

"The energy that Foo Fighters try to give off is rooted in the night I saw that movie."

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