Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins addressed the death of Chris Cornell, as well as mental health and depression awareness, in a recent interview with New Zealand’s The Rock radio station.
In a serious segment, Morning Rumble show DJs Roger Farrelly and Bryce Case brought the late Cornell and Chester Bennington into the conversation, pointing out how depression can affect even people who seemingly have “got it all.” Both Cornell and Bennington died by suicide this year.”
When it comes to someone like Chris Cornell or Chester … depression is a disease,” Grohl commented. “Everybody kind of goes through it their own way. I can’t speak for anybody else’s condition. But the hardest part is when you lose a friend. And I just always immediately think of their families, bandmates. Going through something like suicide, it’s a long road.”
“Chris was such a beautiful guy,” the Foo Fighters frontman said. “He was the sweetest person. He was so talented, he had so much to offer that it was a real shock to hear that he had gone.”
“I think that mental health and depression is something people should really take seriously. There’s a stigma attached to it that’s unfortunate,” he added.
Hawkins continued his bandmate’s thoughts: “That just goes to show you it doesn’t matter what’s in your bank account or how many hits are on your YouTube page or all that kind of crap that all goes out the window … if you’re not feeling right.”
“Not to get to hear Chris Cornell make another record again, that’s my selfish version of it,” Hawkins said of feeling the loss of Cornell. “There’s such a bigger hurt beyond my own selfish … I barely knew him, a little bit, but what I did know, he was super cool. I didn’t know Chester very well at all, but I knew Chris a little bit. We just loved his records, man.”
The drummer also shared memories of jamming to Soundgarden rifts with Grohl when he first joined the Foo Fighters, saying that Soundgarden had been a big inspiration to them as musicians.
Watch their interview over at The Rock’s website.
This article originally appeared on Billboard.
