Dave Grohl says it's heartbreaking that Kurt Cobain isn't here to bless the world with his incredible songwriting talent.

The former Nirvana drummer has admitted it's "one of the greatest heartbreaks" of his life that the 'Come As You Are' rockers have been defunct since the tragic suicide of their frontman in 1994, who he hailed "the greatest songwriter of our generation”.

Speaking on his band Foo Fighters' 'Medicine At Midnight Radio' station on Apple Music, the 52-year-old musician said: “Of course, it was an incredibly challenging experience and ultimately one of the greatest heartbreaks of my life that Nirvana isn’t still here today making music.

“Whether it would be called Nirvana or something else. It is one of my life’s greatest heartbreaks that Kurt isn’t still here to write more amazing songs because it’s pretty clear that he was blessed with a gift.

I think it’s safe to say that he was the greatest songwriter of our generation. I’m very proud to say that I got to be his drummer and play those songs every night.”

The 'Times Like These' hitmaker also reflected on the grunge legends' unexpected mainstream success with 1991 hit 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and their seminal album 'Nevermind'.

He said: “We were still in our van and we were just watching this happen in front of us.

​“The shows were getting bigger. The crowds were getting bigger. The crowds outside of the shows were bigger than the crowds inside the shows. We could see that something was happening, but we really never expected that it would turn out to be as big as it was. I don’t think any of us expected that.”

Meanwhile, Foo Fighters' Pat Smear, who was a touring guitarist for Nirvana between 1993 to 1994, recently delighted fans when he revealed he and Grohl still jam with bassist Krist Novoselic and secretly perform Nirvana songs.

He said: “Every once in a while, me and Krist and Dave get together and we do play as if we’re Nirvana

“So I don’t have to miss it — we do it. If we’re in the same town together, or whatever, we’ll get together and jam.”