Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins spoke to New Zealand radio station The Rock FM recently, and opened up about their thoughts on mental health, in the wake of the 2017 suicides of Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington and Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell.
“Depression is a disease,” Grohl told the station’s presenters, Rog and Bryce, in a video interview that you can watch here.
"Everybody kind of goes through it their own way,” he continues. “The hardest part is when you lose a friend. I just always immediately think of their families and bandmates.
"Going through something like suicide, it's a long road. And Chris [Cornell] was such a beautiful guy—he was the sweetest person, he was so talented, he had so much to offer. It was a real shock.
"Mental health and depression is something that people should really take seriously. There's a stigma attached to it, [and] that's unfortunate."
Hawkins spoke, too, on the topic, adding: “It just goes to show you that it doesn't matter what’s in your bank account or how many hits are on your YouTube page. All that kind of crap all goes out the window if you're not feeling right. If it looks like someone is down, way down, check on them."
If you wish to talk about mental health concerns, you can contact SANE in the UK, or Mind, or ReThink. In the US, you can contact NAMI, or Mental Health America.