Dave Grohl Hid Behind Stevie Wonder Because He Was so High During a Tribute to Ringo Starr 

In 2015, Dave Grohl was at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, waiting to join inductee Ringo Starr on stage. The ceremony was long, though, so Grohl joined Miley Cyrus and Joan Jett upstairs, where they smoked weed. Not long after, a bewildered and very high Grohl went onstage to sing “With a Little Help From My Friends” with Starr and a number of other musicians. He said that he was so overwhelmed, he attempted to hide behind Stevie Wonder.

Dave Grohl got high before he was supposed to take the stage with Ringo Starr

After performing “Cherry Bomb” with Jett, Grohl stepped away from the ceremony. 

“I just remember being there and going upstairs … the ceremonies can be painfully long,” Grohl told Rolling Stone in 2021. “Fortunately, Joan Jett’s performance was at the top of the show. We performed and after a few hours, I went up to the dressing room to drink and wound up smoking a joint with Joan and Miley Cyrus. [Laughs.]”

Grohl said he rarely smoked weed and suddenly found himself extremely high.

“I came back downstairs … and I rarely smoke weed,” he said, adding, “I remember looking over, staring at Jerry Lee Lewis and just being…I don’t even have the words to describe it. I was tripping f***in’ balls.”

Dave Grohl hid behind Stevie Wonder during the tribute to Ringo Starr

Starr joined the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Beatles in 1988, but he didn’t join as an individual until 2015. With his Award for Musical Excellence that year, Starr became the final member of The Beatles to join the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as an individual. At the ceremony, he welcomed Jett, Cyrus, Grohl, Paul McCartney, and a number of other musicians onstage to sing “With a Little Help From My Friends.” 

“And then at the end of the show, Ringo got an award,” Grohl explained. “A producer was running around looking for me to sing the finale of ‘With a Little Help From My Friends.’ He ran up to me and was like, ‘Dave! Dave! You’ve gotta be onstage in the next two minutes! We’re doing the big finale!’”

At this point, Grohl was so high that he couldn’t fathom performing. He took the stage, but he tried to stay hidden.

“I couldn’t imagine being onstage,” he said. “I walked out there so high that I hid behind Stevie Wonder. [Laughs.]”

Grohl said that he would try not to get so high at future ceremonies.

“I mean, it was a lot to take in! [Laughs]” he said. “I won’t be doing that this year, that’s for goddamn sure.”

The Foo Fighters singer looks up to The Beatles drummer

Though it was a disorienting experience, Grohl was likely excited to perform with Starr. He looked up to him as a drummer.

“Define the best drummer in the world,” Grohl said in a tribute video for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “Is it someone who’s technically proficient, or is it someone that sits in the song with their own feel? Ringo was the king of feel.”

Starr has also said he is a fan of Grohl’s music, and the two have formed a friendship.