"The impact he left on art is truly magical." Dave Grohl's daughter Violet, and Gary Numan's daughter Persia, team up to salute one of America's greatest film-makers on what would have been his 80th birthday

(Image credit: Violet Grohl by Bella Newman | Persia Numan by Jim Dyson/Getty Images)

Violet Grohl has released a haunting tribute to the late, great American film-maker David Lynch, on what would have been the Montana-born cinematic legend's 80th birthday. Lynch, one of the most influential directors in film history, whose credits include Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man, Wild At Heart, Lost Highway and Eraserhead, passed away on January 16, 2025.

What's Heaven Without You, Grohl's second single, and the follow-up to
December's THUM, was co-written with Grohl's close friend Persia Numan, daughter of English New Wave/Synth-Pop legend Gary Numan, and producer Justin Raisen (Kim Gordon/Yeah Yeah Yeahs/Viagra Boys).

Speaking about the single, Grohl says, "This song was written in David Lynch's memory alongside two of my favorite collaborators in the world, Persia Numan, and Justin Raisen. A few days after the chaos and devastation of the LA fires, we came together in our sadness and grief and let it pour out into this song. We hope you can find some resonance in it. The impact he left on art is truly magical, we miss you David xx"

What's Heaven Without You is available exclusively through Bandcamp, and released via Auroura Records, under exclusive license to UMG Recordings, Inc.

Before releasing her own music, Violet Grohl supplied guest vocals on Show Me How on Foo Fighters' 2023 album But Here We Are, and duetted with her father on a cover of X's Nausea, which featured on the soundtrack to Dave Grohl's 2021 documentary What Drives Us.

Last year the 19-year-old singer guested with Nirvana's surviving members - Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear - at the Fire Aid benefit concert in Los Angeles to sing lead vocals on Nirvana classic All Apologies.

Grohl's debut album, on which she has been working with Justin Raisen, is expected later in 2026.

"She’s a true torch singer," a source told The Hollywood Reporter last year. "Her vocals are tremendous. She’s very talented."

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.

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