Dave Grohl is headlining a Hollywood charity gala Saturday night, bringing John Mayer and the cover band Chevy Metal along for a benefit that leans on the Foo Fighters frontman's long history of feeding people experiencing homelessness across Los Angeles. The event, called Soundstage of Hope, starts at 6:30 p.m. at Chaplin Studios and raises money for Hope the Mission and Los Angeles Mission, two organizations that together say they provide nearly 4 million meals and more than 1 million nights of shelter every year.
According to LAist, Grohl — the Nirvana and Foo Fighters founding member — joins Mayer and Chevy Metal as the night's headline acts. Per the Hope United Gala website, Hope the Mission and Los Angeles Mission are uniting once again for the event. Organizers say Hope provides shelter, meals, medical support and other critical services to thousands of individuals and families across Los Angeles every day. The Los Angeles Mission says it was founded in 1936, moved to 443 South Los Angeles Street in 1949, and opened its current facility at 303 East 5th Street on Jan. 21, 1992.
Tickets for Soundstage of Hope are available through the Hope United Gala website, per LAist. Hope the Mission's own events page describes an evening built around performances by Grohl and Mayer alongside food, drinks, stories of transformed lives and surprise guests.
Grohl's Barbecue Work in Los Angeles
Grohl began cooking for people in need during the 2018 Malibu fires, he told Bon Appétit, preparing hundreds of pounds of meat and delivering care packages to fire stations. He had previously hosted backyard cookouts; as those efforts grew, he started Backbeat BBQ, which he has called “my one-man catering company.”
Grohl fell in love with barbecue at a young age, LAist reports, and he now says he can cook for up to 500 people at once. The outlet notes he began giving food to people experiencing homelessness after seeing many people living on the street near his Northridge recording studio, and that he has since served hot boxes of food to 200 to 400 people on Skid Row. He has framed the work as something that could be a lifelong vocation, telling LAist he views serving meals as an expression of love, care and dignity — and comparing a song to a recipe, recording to preparation, and performance to serving.
That history was on vivid display in February 2023, when Grohl spent a night cooking for the Trebek Center in Northridge. As the Los Angeles Times reported, he brought his own smokers and prepared brisket, ribs and pork butt for more than 450 unhoused people as a storm moved through Los Angeles. He called in family and friends to help serve the smoked meat alongside beans and coleslaw, and according to the Times, he stayed at the shelter overnight tending the fires and meat from around midnight until roughly 6 a.m.
Chevy Metal on the Bill
Chevy Metal, the cover act sharing Saturday's bill, carries its own emotional backstory tied to the Foo Fighters. The band was founded by Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters' drummer, who died in 2022. After his death, the Los Angeles Times reported, the Foo Fighters carried on, but Chevy Metal's members were certain their band could not — until Taylor's son, Shane Hawkins, stepped in to become its new drummer and change their minds.
Grohl also plays with Chevy Metal, performing songs by Talking Heads, Black Sabbath and the Rolling Stones, according to LAist.
Homelessness and public support in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority finalized its 2025 count after HUD review, estimating 67,777 people experiencing homelessness in the Los Angeles Continuum of Care and 43,695 in the City of Los Angeles. Beyond nonprofit meal and shelter services, LA County describes CalFresh as a public program that provides monthly food benefits to low-income individuals and families through an EBT card. The City of Los Angeles says its Inside Safe program moves people living in encampments into temporary housing and provides support focused on helping them find permanent homes.
Hope the Mission's barbecue efforts have continued beyond Grohl's personal cooking sessions. The organization partnered with Mayor Karen Bass to prepare 10,000 barbecue meals for residents in its homeless shelters, according to The San Fernando Valley Sun. Saturday's gala aims to build on that kind of support as Hope the Mission and Los Angeles Mission look to sustain the meal and shelter programs that serve Angelenos across the city.
