To be sure, the news was met with shock and anger online by some who took it as a personal affront. Indeed, the idea that a rock star was behaving like, well, many rock stars, seemingly shook many people’s faith in fidelity, with talk of “parasocial betrayal” and broken trust.
Mockery and memes of a sad-looking Ben Affleck, who knows a thing or two about marital problems, also proliferated online, even as Mr. Grohl pleaded for “consideration toward all the children involved, as we move forward together.”
The level of upset by fans speaks to Mr. Grohl’s unique place in the music world, where he has reached almost Springsteen-ian levels of adoration and respect. He is one of just a small coterie of musicians to be enshrined into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with two bands, both of which have been touched by tragedy: the 1994 suicide of Nirvana’s frontman, Kurt Cobain, and the death of the Foo Fighters’ drummer, Taylor Hawkins, in 2022.
Beyond his power-drumming, Mr. Grohl’s outspokenness about the importance of rock has made him an icon, said Anthony DeCurtis, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, even as the genre has been declared dead, again and again.
“He’s sort of become, in a very unassuming way, the voice of rock ’n’ roll,” Mr. DeCurtis said. “He’s still somebody who believes in what rock can be and what it can mean.”
At 55, Mr. Grohl is also conversant with social media (including, obviously, Instagram) and culturally versatile, willing to have fun outside rock. He has been a horror film auteur and a movie cameo regular; his 2021 memoir, “The Storyteller,” was a best seller. He’s quotable and huggable: With a mane of gray-streaked hair, kind eyes and a sly smile, he looks like your cool uncle — if your uncle were to sell tens of millions of albums.
