Dave Grohl was in the parking lot of a studio he was using to record the new Foo Fighters record when he ran into a familiar face: Boyz II Men’s Shawn Stockman.
But besides the fact that Stockman is a part of a group who has sold over 60 million albums worldwide, there was another reason why Grohl recognized the Philadelphia-native.
“I met him before, at a really rock-and-roll spot,” Stockman told me, before dropping the punch line. “The flower shop.”
At the time, both men were buying flowers for their significant others. They’ve crossed paths a few times since, but it was the latest run-in that yielded a musical collaboration.
“(Grohl) said, ‘Hey man, I’m doing a song and it’d be great if you could put some vocals on it,’” recalled Stockman. “It was cool.”
The final product is the title track from the Foo’s forthcoming LP “Concrete and Gold,” due out this September. Stockman, along with Nathan and Wanya Morris, will be touring in Africa that month. Before then, the trio will wrap up its run on “The Total Package Tour” with New Kids On The Block and Paula Abdul then return to Las Vegas to continue its residency at The Mirage.
I caught up with the GRAMMY Award winners in their dressing room at Mohegan Sun Arena before the group took the stage in front of a sold-out crowd. The interview, produced for Mohegan Sun’s Facebook page, included a segment where Nathan drew a card and the three artists had to answer the question on it. Asked, “Which celebrity would make you starstruck?” Stockman responded by referencing another big-name collaboration.
“Mine was Michael Jackson; we actually got to work with him,” he said. “We did some vocals on his ‘HIStory’ album.”
“He turned them down really low though,” Nathan quipped. The guys laughed, and agreed.
“We ended up being really cool (with him),” Stockman continued. “I could actually say that we were friends with Michael Jackson.”
And Stockman may go down as the only artist to work with both the King of Pop and the Foo Fighters front man. Ironically, Grohl was once asked by Lenny Kravitz to play on a Jackson track released posthumously, however his drum line wasn’t used in the final recording.
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