Violet Grohl has officially launched her recording career with the release of her debut album Be Sweet To Me, issued through Auroura Records and Republic Records on Friday. The 11-track record arrives alongside the announcement of Grohl’s first headline tour, which begins tonight in Los Angeles, and ahead of her scheduled television debut on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on June 3.
by Paul Cashmere
The release positions the 20-year-old singer within a growing wave of second-generation artists attempting to establish identities separate from their family legacies. While Grohl’s surname inevitably draws attention because of her father Dave Grohl’s history with Nirvana and Foo Fighters, Be Sweet To Me presents a deliberate attempt to carve out an artistic voice grounded in alternative rock traditions from the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Recorded at producer Justin Raisen’s Los Angeles home studio, the album was developed through collaborative writing sessions that Grohl said were built around shared listening and improvisation. Raisen, whose previous credits include work with Kim Gordon and Charli xcx, assembled musicians in the spirit of classic session collectives such as The Wrecking Crew.
“Everything was written in the studio,” Grohl said in release material accompanying the album. “I would come in with an inspiration playlist, we would hang and listen for a little while, and then start writing.”
The sonic references across the album reflect a broad alternative palette, including influences from Pixies, Soundgarden, Cocteau Twins, PJ Harvey, The Breeders, L7 and Alice in Chains. Grohl said many of those records formed part of her upbringing.
“I’ve listened to that stuff since I was a kid,” she said.
Raisen described Grohl as possessing an unusually broad knowledge of music history for an emerging artist. He said her reference playlists moved between trip hop, Scandinavian black metal, vocal jazz, folk and new wave influences.
The album’s release is accompanied by a new video for “Bug In The Cake”, directed by Nikki Milan Houston. Previously released singles “THUM”, “595” and “Cool Buzz” helped establish early attention around the project, particularly across alternative streaming and college radio audiences in the United States.
Grohl’s emergence has unfolded gradually over the past decade. Her first widely publicised performance came in 2018 when, at age 12, she joined her father onstage at a UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital benefit concert to perform Adele’s “When We Were Young”. She later appeared alongside surviving Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear during charity performances, including a 2020 rendition of “Heart-Shaped Box” at The Art of Elysium benefit concert in Los Angeles.
She has also contributed vocals to several projects connected to her father’s career, including Foo Fighters’ “Making A Fire”, The Hanukkah Sessions and the 2023 Foo Fighters track “Show Me How”. In 2022 she performed at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts in both London and California, singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” during the Inglewood concert and performing Jeff Buckley songs at Wembley Stadium.
One of her highest-profile appearances came in January 2025 when surviving Nirvana members reunited during the FireAid benefit concert in Los Angeles. Grohl handled lead vocals on “All Apologies”, placing her directly in the lineage of the music that shaped many of the influences now evident on her own material.
The arrival of Be Sweet To Me also lands during a period when younger rock artists are revisiting the aesthetics and production approaches of 1990s alternative music. That trend has accelerated in recent years as audiences rediscover catalogue artists through streaming platforms and vinyl reissues. Grohl’s project leans heavily into that heritage while avoiding overt imitation, instead using distorted guitars, layered vocal textures and melodic structures associated with the era as a foundation for contemporary songwriting.
Industry attention surrounding the album has inevitably focused on questions of legacy and access. Grohl enters the industry with a level of visibility unavailable to most debut artists, yet the record itself will ultimately determine whether audiences view her as more than the daughter of one of rock’s most recognisable musicians. Early reactions suggest listeners are engaging with the music independently of the family connection, particularly around the album’s heavier guitar-driven tracks.
Grohl’s first headline tour is already showing signs of demand, with multiple dates including Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. reportedly sold out ahead of opening night. European festival appearances are planned for August, followed by performances at Shaky Knees, CBGB Festival and All Things Go later this year.
For Grohl, the immediate focus now shifts from introduction to sustainability. Be Sweet To Me establishes the framework of her artistic identity, but the coming touring cycle and live performances will likely determine how firmly she can establish herself within the contemporary alternative rock landscape.
Tracklisting:
THUM
595
Bug In The Cake
Last Day I Loved You
Big Memory
Mobile Stars
Often Others
Applefish
Cool Buzz
Pool Of My Dream
Plastic Couch
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