DAVE GROHL thanks MELVINS for giving him NIRVANA's phone number | Revolver

DAVE GROHL thanks MELVINS for giving him NIRVANA's phone number

Buzz Osborne made the fateful connection in 1990
nirvana 1991 GETTY, Paul Bergen/Redferns
photograph by Paul Bergen/Redferns

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Sludge-grunge titans the Melvins are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year — a milestone Revolver commemorated by having them on the cover of our magazine, photographed by TOOL's Adam Jones. In a new video, the Melvins' longtime friend and fan Dave Grohl hails the group as "the kings of the Northwest music scene" and "the heaviest band of all time."

He also notably thanks them for giving him Nirvana's phone number. As the story goes, Grohl was playing in the D.C. hardcore outfit Scream in 1990 when Osborne took his buddies Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic to go see them play live. Scream shortly thereafter broke up, leaving Grohl without a band. He hit up Buzz for advice, and the Melvins frontman let him know that Nirvana were actually looking for a drummer at that time, and passed along Cobain and Novoselic's phone numbers. Grohl made the call and was invited to Seattle to audition. The rest, of course, is history — history that might not have happened were it not for the fucking Melvins.