Dave Grohl knew Kurt Cobain would die young.

The ex-Nirvana drummer revealed he could tell that the volatile singer and guitarist was fragile and had already prepared for an incident such as his death by the time he committed suicide in 1994.

Dave, 40, who now fronts Foo Fighters, told Britain's BBC Radio 1: "There are some people that you meet in life that you just know that they are not going to live to be a 100 years old.

"In some ways, you kind of prepare yourself emotionally for that to be a reality."

He added that the death of the troubled singer was, nevertheless, a huge shock, and he described learning of Kurt's passing as the "worst thing" to happen in his life.

He added: "It was a terrible surprise. It was probably the worst thing that has happened to me in my life. I remember the day after that I woke up and I was heartbroken that he was gone. I just felt like, 'OK, so I get to wake up today and have another day and he doesn't.'

"Usually it takes something like that for people to appreciate life as a gift and you have to take advantage of the time that you have. Sometimes you just can't save someone from themselves."

Dave's side project Them Crooked Vultures - a supergroup made up from him, Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones - also announced yesterday their self titled debut album is available to be streamed online, a week ahead of its official release.