Dave Grohl incurred the infamous wrath of Taylor Swift fans on the weekend, after the rocker seemingly took a jab at the chart-topping singer while playing on stage with the Foo Fighters.
The veteran musician made the off-the-cuff remarks while performing in Manchester, England, on June 15.
Grohl said during the Foo Fighters show, “I’m feeling like Taylor Swift,” then added, “I should be so lucky.”
“Listen — tonight, this is my Eras Tour, OK? I’ve got a lot of eras,” he continued, referencing Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour. “Spelled e-r-r-o-r-s. This is my ‘Errors Tour,’ how about that?”
Grohl revisited the joke later in the show, drawing boos from the crowd when he brought up Swift, in footage posted to TikTok.
“I’m telling you, man, you don’t want to suffer the wrath of Taylor Swift,” he said, but then continued, apparently ignoring his own advice. “So, we like to call our tour the Errors Tour, because I feel like we’ve had more than a few eras and more than a few f–kin’ errors as well. Just a couple. That’s because we play live.”
As the crowd cheered, Grohl added, “Just sayin’. We’re a live band. You guys like live rock ‘n’ roll music, right?”
Many social media users interpreted the remarks as a shot at Swift, saying Grohl was implying the Shake It Off singer does not perform live.
This drew a predictably thorny response from Swifties, who called Grohl a “loser” and said he was using Swift’s name for “clout.” One user on X (formerly Twitter) called his comments “misogynistic lies.”
Both artists are currently touring the U.K. Swift spoke out during her Saturday show at London’s Wembley Stadium in what some fans interpreted as a response to Grohl.
“Every one of my band members, every single one of our crew, my band who’s gonna be playing live for you for three and a half hours tonight, they deserve this so much. And so does every one of my fellow performers,” Swift said on stage.
Foo Fighters fans jumped to Grohl’s defence online, saying he was simply having fun “at his own expense,” or suggesting that he was referencing Swift’s use of backing tracks — a common practice for large pop artists — rather than suggesting that Swift herself does not perform live.
Some also pointed out that Grohl’s daughter Violet was attacked online by Swifties earlier this year after posting that Swift should “drive like everybody else,” in a seeming reference to her controversial usage of private jets. Swifties are notorious for their online bullying, with many people having been doxxed and sent death threats after criticizing the singer online or having become unwittingly involved in Swift-related drama.
Grohl has spoken generously of Swift in the past, on multiple occasions.
At a 2015 concert, he said he was “officially obsessed” with Taylor Swift, and in an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Grohl recalled Swift “beautifully” performing the Foo Fighters song Best of You on piano at Paul McCartney’s house.
X user Stephen Hyden joked, “In the Dave Grohl vs. Taylor Swift beef I wonder who will get custody of Paul McCartney.”