Rock Star Dave Grohl Feeds 500 People At Homeless Shelter With His Own 16-Hour BBQ

Mar 01, 2023 by apost team

For rock music fans, Dave Grohl needs no introduction. The musician hasn't just been a part of one of rock's biggest bands, but two — first as the drummer in Nirvana from 1990 to 1994, and later as the frontman and guitarist in Foo Fighters, a band he created. Talk about an impressive musical resume!

Originally hailing from Warren, Ohio, Grohl got his start in music early on, as he joined a punk band called Scream at the age of 17. When they broke up he became the drummer for Nirvana, where he first rose to public attention. Following the tragic death of his bandmate Kurt Cobain in 1994, Grohl started Foo Fighters as a one-man project, before recruiting a band after the success of their debut record.

Described as "one of the most influential rock musicians of the last 20 years," Grohl has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice — in 2014, as a member of Nirvana, and in 2021, as part of Foo Fighters.

On top of his incredible musical legacy, Grohl is generally known as a stand-up guy who advocates for the rights of marginalized groups and is involved in various philanthropic efforts. In fact, Grohl has even managed to merge his passion for barbecuing with helping those in need.

In February 2023, TMZ reported that Grohl turned up at Hope The Mission, a homeless shelter in Los Angeles, with his huge meat smoker and worked through the night to feed 500 people out of the goodness of his heart. Grohl manned the giant smoker himself and worked tirelessly in the kitchen, and even personally paid for all the expenses. Read on to learn more about Grohl's good deed.

Grohl arrived at Hope The Mission close to midnight on Feb. 22, 2023, and barbecued everything from ribs, brisket and pork butt to cabbage, beans and coleslaw. Everything took 16 hours in total — 14 hours to cook and two hours for the meat to rest, which means he worked tirelessly through the night during a rainstorm, only managing to catch short naps in the parking lot when he could.

TMZ obtained photos behind-the-scenes, which showed the rockstar doing everything from manning his own personal smoker to working in the kitchen where he prepped the food. In total, the massive feast fed 450 people living in the shelter, as well as 50 staff.

Grohl's endeavor not only fed the less fortunate but promoted Hope The Mission's "All in for Housing" initiative, in which the organization's CEO Ken Craft and CFO and president Rowan Vansleve ran 350 miles from the strip in Las Vegas to LA to raise funds for the shelter.

Vansleve shared a video to Instagram alongside Grohl, in which the rock icon shared his support for the good cause, which aims to fundraise $350,000 so Hope The Mission can open three more shelters, amounting to over 700 beds for unhoused people. Grohl said he'd been cooking all night and added, "You're all in, we're all in." The video's caption read:

"And in the middle of our 350 mile run to end homelessness, we got the coolest video ever from Dave Grohl, of the Foo Fighters. Not only did (he) wish us luck, but he cooked for hundreds of people who live in our shelters in the middle of one of the worst storms.

"Nothing but love and respect for Dave."

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In fact, Grohl's generous gesture is not the first time he's barbecued for charity. Following the 2018 Malibu fires, the musician brought his smoker out and prepared food for multiple fire departments in the affected areas.

He's since named his barbecue efforts Backbeat BBQ. The official Instagram account features many current and throwback photos of the musician cooking up a storm, proving that Grohl has been barbecuing since way back.

In 2019, he opened up to Bon Appetit about how he found himself cooking for hundreds of people. His appetite for barbecue started in the summer of '92 when he found himself "eating Carolina pulled pork from this tiny shack" in Nags Head, NC.

But it was only in 2015 after he broke his leg falling off the stage at a Foo Fighters concert that he finally gave barbecuing a go himself. He "went on YouTube and watched some guy" and decided to make ribs for his kids. "They loved it. Everyone only got like two ribs so I said, I'm doing this again tomorrow! I was hooked," he said.

This led him to start cooking for larger groups of people and within a few months he "was hosting parties for 50 to 75 people." This meant he had to upgrade his equipment, eventually landing on a trailer rig from Georgia. He credits wanting "to cook for everyone who was displaced" during the Malibu fires as the spark that made him start Backbeat BBQ and begin cooking for crowds.

The avid barbecuer even compared his passion with his profession.

"Most musicians are obsessive compulsive weirdos ... You’re always trying to one up the thing you’ve just done, or perfect it, or get to the place where you’re playing your instrument but you’re not actually thinking about it. It’s kind of the same with food. The parallels are insane."

Dave Grohl truly lives up to being one of the nicest guys in rock 'n' roll! Did you know he had a passion for barbecue? What do you think of his charitable barbecue initiative? Pass this on to your friends, family and any Foo Fighters fans you know!