Foo Fighters

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Foo Fighters

Named after a type of UFO spotted over Germany by World War II air force pilots, the Foo Fighters original lineup included Pat Smear (guitar), Nate Mendel (bass), Taylor Hawkins (drums) and Grohl on guitar and lead vocals.

A history of the Foo Fighters would not be complete without including Grohl's stint with the seminal alternative trio Nirvana. Dave Grohl began performing in his late teens as drummer for the DC-based hardcore band Scream. After just a few years, Scream folded; Grohl then joined Nirvana and moved to Seattle. In 1991, Nirvana's second album, Nevermind, put the band on the musical map and drastically changed the lives of members Grohl, frontman Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic. Nirvana was suddenly thrust into the spotlight after Nevermind went triple platinum, which neither the record company nor the band members expected. The three unassuming musicians went from virtual unknowns to heroes of Generation-X angst and malcontent almost overnight

Meanwhile, Grohl was writing and recording his own material that would later make up most of the Foo Fighters' debut.

After Cobain's suicide, Grohl stayed out of the spotlight for several months and kept quiet about the band's future and his own solo projects. Admirably discreet, Grohl resisted any opportunity he may have had to feed the media frenzy surrounding Cobain's death.

In 1995, Grohl stepped out from behind the drum set and released the Foo Fighters' self-titled debut. The album was clearly an exorcism of Cobain's ghost, complete with photo of a gun on the album cover. While the album was composed almost entirely of Grohl's own songs and instrumentation, he promoted it as a band effort with the newly formed Foo Fighters. The debut went over extremely well with critics and fans alike. CMJ hailed the debut as "rock album of the year," and dubbed Dave Grohl "Nabokov of the dumb riff."

The Foo Fighters followed up with The Colour and the Shape in 1997, with drummer Taylor Hawkins replacing William Goldsmith. Later that year, Smear left the band and was briefly replaced by Franz Stahl, Grohl's ex-bandmate from Scream.

The Foo Fighters 1999 effort, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, was released on RCA Records. The CD, recorded at Grohl's home studio in Virginia, was co-produced by Adam Kasper (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam). Soon after the release, guitarist Chris Shiflett (No Use for a Name) joined the band.

It would be a few years before Foo Fighters would record and release their next album, leaving fans to question the bands future. Then Grohl took time off briefly to join Queens of the Stone Age, fueling rumors about the bands demise. Foo Fighters stuck it out, however, and in 2002 they released One by One, the bands strongest record to date. Its strength can be attributed to the fact that its the first Foo Fighters record to feature guitarist Chris Shiflett, making the Grohl/Mendel/Hawkins/Shiflett line-up the first to survive two full Foo Fighters album/tour cycles. Or as Taylor Hawkins puts it, "This is the final line-up, the one that lasts until the band breaks up."

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