Foo Fighters | Rolling Stone artists > F > Foo Fighters > Bio Foo Fighters Bio The Foo Fighters emerged from the ashes of Nirvana, but the band's true roots lay in the years of personal recordings made by leader Dave Grohl. The former Nirvana drummer had played guitar and written songs since he was a Washington, D.C., teenager, while also playing drums in several hardcore bands. At 17, Grohl became the drummer for the veteran punk act Scream. In 1990 he joined Nirvana, but continued to work on his own material during breaks from the road and studio. After finishing Nirvana's Nevermind, Grohl returned to D.C. to record several tracks, which were released on the cassette-only Pocketwatch. Plans for another cassette release were shelved with Kurt Cobain's 1994 suicide. Later that year Grohl entered a studio with friend and producer Barrett Jones to record what would become the first Foo Fighters album. Grohl played all the instruments himself (with the exception of the song "X-Static," which featured guitar by Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs).

Though he had written and sung just one Nirvana song (the B-side "Marigold"), Grohl demonstrated a flair for pop hooks and driving guitar rock. (The name Foo Fighters came from what American World War II pilots called unidentified fireballs spotted over Germany.) Grohl signed with Capitol and formed a band in time for a 1995 tour, recruiting bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith from the freshly-broken-up Sunny Day Real Estate. Pat Smear, the former Germs guitarist who had joined Nirvana for its final tour, also joined. Foo Fighters (Number 23) was released in 1995 and spawned the Modern Rock hits "This Is a Call," "I'll Stick Around," and "Big Me." Goldsmith quit during the making of The Colour and the Shape (Number Ten, 1997), the first Foo Fighters album recorded as a band, and was replaced by Taylor Hawkins (Alanis Morissette).

The album contained the Modern Rock hits "Monkey Wrench," "My Hero," and "Everlong." Smear quit and was briefly replaced by Franz Stahl (Scream) and then Chris Shiflett (No Use for a Name, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes), solidifying the lineup to date. Grohl relocated to Virginia and recorded There Is Nothing Left to Lose (Number 10, 1999) in his basement; the album included "Learn to Fly" (Number 13, 2000). In 2001 the group began recording its fourth album in Los Angeles, but stopped before finishing. Grohl took a break from band-leading by getting behind the drums again for Queens of the Stone Age's 2002 album Songs for the Deaf. Refreshed, Grohl gathered the Foos back together and re-recorded almost the entire album at his Virginia home studio, released as One by One (Number Three, 2002). The album further consolidated the band's place as the well-loved elder statesmen of alt-rock.

In 2004, Grohl released Probot, the self-titled side project featuring a number of vocalists from heavy metal legends, among them Lemmy Kilmister (Mot örhead), Snake (Voivod), King Diamond, and Max Cavalera (Sepultura, Soulfly). Later the same year, the Foos publicly backed John Kerry's presidential campaign, an endeavor Grohl said inspired the title of In Your Honor (Number Two, 2005), a double-CD featuring an acoustic disc and an electric disc. It featured the hit "Best of You" (Number 18, 2005), later covered, to Grohl's great delight and surprise, by Prince during his bravura halftime appearance at the 2007 Super Bowl.

(Foo Fighters had covered Prince's "Darling Nikki" on the B-side of the 2003 single "Have It All" and performed it live and on the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards with guest star Cee-Lo.) After a stopgap live disc, Skin and Bones (Number 21, 2006), Foo Fighters worked together again with Gil Norton, who'd produced The Colour and the Shape, and recorded the well-received Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (Number Three, 2007). The group scored both Best Rock Album and Best Hard Rock Performance at the following years' Grammy Awards, and performed "Young Man Blues" and "Bargain" (with Gaz Coombes of Supergrass) at VH1's Rock Honors concert for the Who. After this whirlwind of activity, Grohl announced the band would be taking a hiatus.

A greatest hits album featuring one new song, "Wheels," was released in 2009, and Grohl turned his full attention to another project: his role as drummer in the hard rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, which featured Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. The group debuted with a performance at the Metro in Chicago as part of a Lollapalooza after-party, and then made a series of festival appearances that summer before releasing their first album (Number 12) to generally positive reviews and strong sales in November of that year. Portions of this biography appeared in The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001). J. Edward Keyes contributed to this article.

Dave Grohl - Biography - IMDb Dave Grohl Biography Showing all 53 items Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trade Mark (4) | Trivia (32) | Personal Quotes (10) Overview (4) The Nicest Man In Rock The Nicest Guy In Music Height 6' (1.83 m) Mini Bio (1) Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters front-man, will always be remembered as the drummer for Nirvana . But, drumming for a great band such as Nirvana is not Dave's only claim in the world of music. Dave's musical career began at age 15 as the guitarist and later as the drummer for a punk band called "Freak Baby". A year later, he was behind the drums for "Mission Impossible" and later that summer drumming for "Dain Bramage". Another year down the road, an opportunity to drum with one of his favorite punk bands, "Scream", was just too great to pass up. This leads us to 1990 when "Scream" seemed to be coming to an end and "Nirvana" was in need of a drummer.

While recording and touring with "Nirvana", Dave continued to write lyrics and music that he would record during breaks with "Nirvana". After the tragic end of "Nirvana", Dave eventually turned to his music to create Foo Fighters . While playing guitar and singing with Foo Fighters is his main job, you can also find Dave channeling his musical genius throughout the world of rock. Dave has drummed for "Queens Of The Stone Age" and "Killing Joke". He has also recorded and guest performed with his buddies "Tenacious D". All the while recording for his own hardcore project, "Probot". - IMDb Mini Biography By: J.Clay Spouse (2) ( 2 August 2003 - present) (3 children) Jennifer Youngblood Gruff vocals, with a powerful rock scream Well-known for his affability, especially with fans Long hair and beard Guitar and Vocalist for Foo Fighters . He frequently posts on his band's website. 1994, he was invited to join " Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers" but declined due to the upcoming debut album of Foo Fighters .

Many of the songs that wound up on Foo Fighters ' debut were rehearsed in early 1994 as potential Nirvana songs, with Dave on guitar and Kurt Cobain playing the drums. His mother appears in Foo Fighters ' "Breakout" video. Inducted into the Washington (DC) Area Music Hall of Fame, 2002. George Harrison was his favourite Beatle, and he wrote the song "Oh, George" in dedication to him in 1994. Wrote all the songs and played all the instruments (except guitar on X-Static, played by Greg Dulli ) on Foo Fighters ' self-titled debut album, released in 1995. As a tribute to legendary punk bass player Mike Watt , Dave put 2 t's in the title of the song Wattershed. Foo Fighters ' fourth album, an 11-track effort titled "One by One", was released on October 22nd (one week before the Nirvana "Greatest Hits" package came out). The first single/video from the album was "All my Life". Before joining Nirvana , Grohl had been a member of the bands "Scream" and "Dain Bramage".

Is one of the most popular people in the music industry, due to his skill on most musical instruments (but particularly drums) and his pleasant, humorous personality. Was the drummer of grunge band Nirvana in the early 90s. His first concert was at The Cubby Bear in Chicago Illinois. Daughter (with wife Jordyn) Violet Mae Grohl (b. April 15, 2006). She is named after Dave's maternal grandmother. Announced that he and his wife, Jordyn, are expecting their second child. [October 26, 2008]. Second daughter, Harper Willow, born April 17, 2009. She weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. Lives in Los Angeles and Oxnard, California. Drummer for "Them Crooked Vultures" (self titled album) in 2009 with John Paul Jones (former bassist of Led Zeppelin) and Josh Homme (of Queens Of The Stoneage). Drummer on "Queens of the Stone Age" band's album "Songs for the Deaf".

[September 2002] Drumming for band 'Killing Joke' [June 2003] Estimated in 2012 to be the third richest drummer in the world behind Ringo Starr and Phil Collins . His third daughter, Ophelia Saint Grohl, was born on August 1, 2014. He is a left-leaning liberal Democrat. He was a strong critic of Republican President George W. Bush . Among his liberal views is his longtime and staunch advocacy of LGBT causes. In 1992, he played a benefit concert with the other members of Nirvana in opposition to Oregon Ballot Measure 9, and to this day, is often seen wearing a white knot in support of LGBT causes. Broke his leg on-stage during a concert in June 2015. Instead of going to the hospital, he had the leg set on-site and finished the concert seated in a chair. Stated in a BBC interview that the only drugs he ever used were marijuana and LSD, but never touched harder drugs, such as cocaine and heroin. He said in the same interview that life is hard enough as it is, and such hard drugs don't make living any easier.

Subject of the song "Dave Grohl" by Wesley Willis . Stopped a performance mid-song when he saw someone being beaten up in the crowd. He yelled at the instigator and ordered him to be ejected from the venue immediately, stating he wouldn't tolerate violence against people who paid their hard-earned money to come see him play, and that people came there to dance and have a good time without fear of getting beaten up. During a trip to Chicago at age 13, a cousin took him to his first concert where he saw local punk rock band "Naked Raygun" perform. That particular event was a milestone in Dave's life in that he knew there and then what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Dropped out of high school at age 17 to go on tour with a punk band. At 21 he was broke in Los Angeles with no way to get home. Fortuitously, about this time he got a call about joining a Seattle band called Nirvana . Widely considered by other artists, fans and critics to be the nicest man in all of rock music.

He would often go out of his way for fans, who describe him as affable, genuine, warm, caring, and truly interested in what they had to say, often spending hours after a concert or press event mingling with fans and conversing with them on a wide range of topics. Fans, in turn, would often be very respectful whenever Grohl would need time away to eat, sleep, or spend some private time by himself or with his family. Even so, Grohl almost never turned down a fan who wanted an autograph or who would just come up to say hello. He has also been only too happy over his career to dispense advice to aspiring musicians whenever asked, and would occasionally come in to help them if he was in town and his schedule permitted. He even encouraged his fans to record his live concerts and freely trade those recordings among themselves. Along with the other members of Nirvana, Dave is close friends with the members of he Red Hot Chili Peppers. The bands toured together several times in the 1990's and members would often play guest spots during the other's set whilst touring. Personal Quotes (10) When I discovered punk rock, the only punk rockers I'd seen were on Quincy.

[on George W. Bush ] When we heard that he was using our music at his rallies it was like being raped in the ass. It was not a good feeling. Live Aid (1985) was huge. How many bands played that thing? Everybody. Queen smoked 'em. They just took everybody. I always go, and people will think I'm crazy for this as there are a lot of Bowie [ David Bowie ] eras and they're all great, but I really like the 'Let's Dance' period. Because, as a drummer, that's one of the best air drumming albums of all time. I can appreciate technical drumming, sure. But to me there's nothing better than being in a bar full of people dancing and air drumming when none of them know how to play the drums. That and 'Back In Black', anyone will air drum to those albums. Who's to say what's a good voice and not a good voice? The Voice (2011)? Imagine Bob Dylan standing there singing 'Blowin in the Wind' in front of Christina Aguilera .

'I think you sound a little nasally and sharp.' How Kurt could even think we'd make a ripple in this ridiculous mainstream world of polished pop music was beyond me. It was beyond everyone. It made absolutely no sense. It was simply unimaginable. It was the type of hopeless, shallow aspirations that we had been conditioned to reject, ultimately relieving us of any intention other than to just be ourselves. From one generation to the next, The Beatles will remain the most important rock band of all time. If The Beatles were the original rock'n'roll four-piece, then Ringo [ Ringo Starr ] was the original rock'n'roll drummer. This was the template for the next 40 years of music. They were certainly the foundation for what I do and Ringo seemed to be the foundation of The Beatles. I always thought he had a great style. He had a wonderful swing and was a showman. A lot of drummers aren't considered showmen, but he definitely turned it on. His swing and backbeat carry so many of The Beatles' songs. Back then, the recording depended on the feel of the song. There was no digital manipulation of drum tracks, so it was up to the drummer to dictate that feel.

And Ringo had his own sound. Pull all the instruments out and you'd still know it was a Beatles song. And that's the sound of a signature drummer. It's the kind of thing drummers strive for all their career, but not all of them make it. I swear to God, you can tell the difference between an English drummer and an American one. Most of the English drummers swing their rolls, but most of the Americans don't. Man, nobody is cooler that Dolly Parton. Her story is amazing. Man, she didn't even have running water. She bought her family's first TV from being on TV. Did you know that? you do now. See also Foo Fighters | Foo Fighters Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Share Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1994. Drummer Dave Grohl formed the group as a one-man project after the dissolution of his previous band, Nirvana, in 1994.

Prior to the release of the band's eponymous debut album in 1995, Grohl drafted two members from the former band Sunny Day Real Estate, Nate Mendel as bassist and William Goldsmith as drummer, as well as fellow Nirvana bandmate Pat Smear as guitarist to complete the group. The band was small and young, and began with performances in Portland, Oregon, before gaining popularity. Goldsmith left during the recording of the group's second album, The Colour and The Shape (1997), and Smear's departure followed soon afterward. They were replaced by Taylor Hawkins and Franz Stahl , respectively, although Stahl left before the recording of the group's third album, There is Nothing Left to Lose (1999). Chris Shiflett joined as the band's third guitarist after the completion of There is Nothing Left to Lose. The band released its fourth album, One By One , in 2002. The group followed that release with the two-disc In Your Honor (2005), which was split between acoustic songs and harder-rocking material. Foo Fighters released its sixth album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace , in 2007.

Later that year, guitarist Pat Smear rejoined the band and they released Wasting Light in 2011 and Sonic Highways in 2014. Over the course of the band's existence, four of its albums have won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album, and as of 2015, the band's eight albums have sold 12 million copies in the U.S., and 30 million worldwide. Foo Fighters Foo Fighters: Arena December 2002 "The Man Who Fell To Earth" Arena 2002 Six months ago a new Foo Fighters album seemed as likely as a "Learn To Swim With Barrymore" video. Grohl was apending more time wrangling with Courtney Love over the Nirvana back catalouge and drumming for other bands than writing songs. So how come the Foo Fighters have pulled off their best album yet? Dave Grohl is not one of life's suit-wearers. In an airy penthouse suite atop London's Metropolitan Hotel he peruses the racks of menswear with the evident distaste of a man who, a decade after grunge's zenith, still occasionally rocks the lumberjack look.

Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett is more enthusiastic, shucking off his shirt to reveal a gallery of tattoos, notably a gothic "lust for life" arcing across his abdomen. Bassist Nate Mendel quietly rifles through his CD wallet for suitable background music before settling on Roots Manuva. Drummer Taylor Hawkins, meanwhile, amuses himself with unflattering impressions of The Strokes, the traditional US rock star "comedy" British accent, and a drum beat constructed entirely from armpit farting noises. As for Grohl, frowning over the clothes rail, it may clarify the Issue to know that a) a German stylist - recently tried to get him in a whistle so nasty he nearly left the building, and he's still trying to get over the experience, and b) the last time he did actually wear a suit was in court. Dave Grohl was the drummer in Nirvana for less than four years. He has been the frontman of the Foo Fighters for twice that, selling almost eight million albums and building a fervently loyal fanbase. But when you've been in arguably the most significant band of the last ten years, the past has a way of sucking you in, whether you like it or not.

On May 7, 2001, Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain's widow, filed a law suit attempting to dissolve LLC, the company she established four years earlier with Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic to oversee Nirvana's music. Plans for a 45- song box-set and greatest hits package to mark the 10th anniversary of their seminal Nevermind album were put on hold. (Now, after yet more court wrangles, that greatest hits package should be in your stocking this Christmas.) So Grohl has spent the last year and a half in and out of lawyers' offices and court rooms, while also moonlighting behind the drumkit for California's Queens Of The Stone Age and playing on records by David Bowie and comedy rock duo Tenacious D. Somehow, he also managed to complete the Foo Fighters' fourth album, One By One, despite a tortuous recording process which came close to wrecking the band. For a man with little taste for drama he's seen more of it recently than fans of The West Wing. Whatever the legal intricacies of the battle for Nirvana's legacy, you can understand why public sympathy favours Grohl and Novoselic.

While Courtney Love's every utt- erance has a similar effect on your average music fan to Freddy Krueger's customised glove slicing down a blackboard, Grohl is plainly a nice guy. Sitting down to talk in the bar of The Metropolitan a few days earlier, he is magnetic but goofy with it, thanks to his lolloping six-foot frame and huge, toothy, gummy grin. Tribal tattoos spiral up his arm from his leather wristbands into the arms of his white T-shirt and his face sports a pair of unfashionably meaty sideburns. At 33, there's still something of the gawky high school kid about him. On the table sits a pack of Marlboros and a glass of sparkling water. No coffee. "We were in Germany the other day and in an effort not to fall asleep because of the [slipping into a convincing teutonic drone] Germans' monotone questions which are slightly insulting but meant to be complimentary. I was drinking like ten, twelve cups of coffee. Then I go to my room to take a nap and I'm glued to the fucking wall. Waah!" The teeth and gums appear.

"It's like taking much acid." These days, coffee is one of the Foo Fighters' only vices. Last time they were in Britain, a year ago, they had to cancel a number of festival dates after drummer Taylor Hawkins had what he refers to as a "happy nap'. A collapse originally blamed on that old rock standby "exhaustion", it turned out to be down to painkiller addiction. and a spell in rehab followed. Now, says bassist Nate Mendel, the band are "fucking boring. When you turn 30 you start talking about working out and tofu and shit." This state of affairs suits Grohl just fine. "We talk about the right things to do when you're in a band. In Nirvana I learnt all the wrong things to do." Such as? "Use your imagination," he grins cagily. "There are lots of open doors that you want to stay away from, lots of crossroads where you definitely want to go to the right and not the left. You just figure those things out." For all his experiences in Seattle, Los Angeles and the world's arenas, Grohl's heart still belongs to suburbia.

He lives outside Washington DC in Alexandria, Virginia about a mile away from his old high school. David Eric Grohl was born on January 14, 1969 in Warren, Ohio to a German-American political journalist and a language teacher of Irish descent. A few years later the Grohls relocated to Washington DC just before the Watergate scandal broke revealing a family trait for moving to the right place at the right time. Later, Grohl Senior became a sought-after speechwriter, once turning down a job with Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole. "My dad was a really straight dude but he was a jazz freak," says Grohl fondly. "He was a flautist. I was always surrounded by culture and music and literature so I was definitely the exception in my neighbourhood. I didn't grow up a complete idiot." When he was 17 Grohl lied about his age to get a job playing with Washington DC hardcore punk band, Scream. When they split up four years later a friend told him that a new Seattle group, Nirvana, were looking for a drummer. The rest you probably know - and if you don't then Grohl is not the man to tell you.

When he does mention his old band, it's not to reference their post-Never- mind supernova but the early days. If he refers, unprompted, to Cobain, the memory is always a simple, happy one. "It's funny," he reflects, chewing on a club sandwich. "Music has changed so much in the last ten years. In the Eighties, there was never, ever the slightest chance that your band was going to become famous. You were playing punk rock, you were playing in squats, you were stealing food and sleeping on people's floors. Nowadays when you graduate high school you have three options: you can go to college, appear on The Real World, or start a band, make a video and hope that MTV plays it. Nowadays you see a band do their first tour on a bus!" He shakes his head. "It's so different now it makes me feel old. And I'm only 33." What changed it all of course was Nirvana. Grohl thinks the box-set, when it finally appears, will tell the story of how "crazy acid-drenched punk rock insanity" some- how gave birth to platinum-selling alt-rock and hence, eventually, to the likes of Nickelback.

Even ten years on, Grohl wriggles with ambivalence about the change. Despite his natural charisma, he was never a born rock star. Before Nirvana shows he would suffer panic attacks. "I still do," he says emphatically. "I mean I have general anxiety anyway. I'll have a panic attack in traffic. I'll have a panic attack on a plane. I need to know there is a way out. When you're playing live there's no way out, man. Once you're up there you've got an hour to fill and you'd better do it." After Cobain's suicide, Grohl did not set out to repeat the Nirvana effect. The first Foo Fighters album, released in 1995, was a collection of self recorded demos originally intended to be completely anonymous. It was just a way to keep busy. "Because for a year after Nirvana I didn't know what to do with my life. I wasn't sure whether I was going to pack it in and become That Guy.

Or go and play drums with someone else and become That Drummer." No review of that first album, however flattering, could resist a reference to Ringo Starr's wretched solo career, or indeed any drummer with front-of-stage ambitions. Grohl accepts that "most people see drummers as cavemen. How difficult can it really be, just beating the shit out of stuff?" At first, he felt that the leap was "a big fucking scam". "I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to act. But then I realised, why am I trying to be something else? It's not that big of a fucking deal. I can't imagine being the flamboyant decadent front-person of the band because I'm not like that." Despite writing most of the songs, Grohl splits the songwriting credits four ways. Still infatuated by the camaraderie of band life, he strives for as much equality as possible while still being the one who calls the shots. "True democracy rarely works for a rock band," offers Taylor Hawkins. "It usually ends in fisticuffs and breaking up.

And Dave is usually right." The Foo Fighters are an eclectic bunch, Nate Mendel joined in 1995 when the frontman of his previous band became a born- again Christian and renounced the evils of rock. "I wanted to fucking murder him," Mendel recalls evenly. A dry, quiet character, his idea of a good day out on tour is mountain biking to the nearest museum. "I've never really liked the aesthetic of rock," he sniffs. "The live-fast-die-young credo I always thought was kind of dumb. Y'know, I went college. I could have been an historian." Chris Shiflett is the most recent recruit catapulted from audition to tour in the space of a week back in 1999. He's gentler and less assuming than you'd expect someone with 'Gimme Gimme' tattooed inside lower lip to be. Born and bred in California he gets up at five every morning to go surfing and work out. "If I can manage to take my girlfriend out to dinner and be in bed by nine o'clock I'm fucking happy," he smiles.

"It's not very rock'n'roll but it works for me." Then there's Taylor Hawkins, a man for whom your average drummer joke might have been written. He jitters constantly in his seat, waving a Parliament cigarette around for 20 minutes without ever lighting it. When an attractive woman enters the bar, he leaps into gangly life. "Uh!" he grunts. "Wooo! Damn! Oh, she's with a man." He slumps back. "I have a girlfriend, but there's no harm looking. You gotta love the ladies." Indeed. Hawkins lives in Topanga Canyon, LA, which is "like Surrey but not. Maybe the hills of Surrey. Are there hills in Surrey?" Recruited from Alanis Morissette's touring band, he talks like the Foo Fighters', and Grohl's, biggest fan. "We've never communi- cated perfectly," he says. "I'm fucking flat-out emotional, say everything, and Dave's guarded a little bit. But put me and Dave in a car on a road trip and it's Dumb And Dumber." No prizes for guessing who's who.

Although Grohl skims over the problems that plagued the recording of One By One, his bandmates do not. After two months of tense, largely fruitless work last winter, Grohl called a band meeting to declare that he was taking a break to play with Queens Of The Stone Age. "I remember thinking, 'Oh shit'," says Shiflett. "It's like breaking up with your girlfriend. You say, 'We should take a break'. And what you mean is, 'I don't want to go out with you anymore.'" Mendel simply says "it was hell". Hawkins, characteristically, is more animated. "There was a lot of me which was like, 'Fuck you, man! This is your band. You're the leader. Be the leader!' I was pissed about that. But in hindsight, he was right." After that impromptu hiatus of a couple of months, One By One was recorded in a break- neck 14 days. It's an urgent, intense album with an unlikely cameo on one song by extravagantly coiffed Queen guitarist Brian May (Hawkins is a Queen nut). It sounds like a band playing at the height of their powers.

Like a handful of other unpretentiously impressive bands, the Foo Fighters become more valuable with age and perhaps nobody is more surprised by their continued success than Grohl himself. "It's funny to think that, that demo tape eight years ago would have brought me here to London in 2002 talking about our fourth album," he says, not with phoney "aw shucks" modesty but genuine bemusement. He gestures around the bar and, beyond it, to the unlikely trajectory of his life. "I didn't imagine this." In the penthouse suite a few days later, Chris Shiflett holds up the cover of a recent issue of Arena and asks Grohl something along the lines of, "Did you really go with Katie Holmes?" Grohl maintains a gentle- manly silence, to which Shiflett responds with the succinct, but envious, "Bastard!" If there was a dalliance with the winsome Dawson's Creek star, it evaded the gossip columns. Grohl has had some high-profile partners, including rock star magnet Winona Ryder and former Smashing Pumpkins bassist Melissa AufDer Mar, but is currently marking his first anniversary with an MTV producer called Jordan, who's "a doll".

He has a second home in Los Angeles, a few blocks away from Jordan's family and a far cry from the "fucking shag cabin" he inhabited there in the mid-Nineties, before returning to Virginia. "I enjoy that normalcy," hesays. "It makes me feel like a good person. I'm the only person I know who says, 'I can't wait to have children.' I don't know anyone else like that and there sure aren't a lot of those people in Los Angeles." Another benefit of steering clear of LA's celebrity haunts is that it minimises the risk of bumping into Courtney Love, a woman whom he must sometimes feel he can never escape. In July, when the Foo Fighters played T In The Park, he announced, "I've been pretty nice about this Courtney Love stuff for a while, but now that shit is really pissing me off." Since then, he claims, things have changed. "I'd come to think of it as this end. less battle that I dealt with every day that made me so angry it squeezed my stomach. But I think what I've realised in all of this is that the most important thing is the music. Nirvana stood for a lot of things.

One of the things it didn't stand for was litigation. When I look back at Nirvana I just think about the music and the people who were my friends." Will you read Kurt's diaries when they're published? "No," he says as if the idea is absurd. "I wouldn't read a friend's diary. If he was alive he wouldn't let anybody read it." Do you think your obituary will read "Foo Fighter Dies" or "Nirvana Drummer Dies"? 'Who knows?" he shrugs. "It'll probably just say 'Musician'. Hopefully. That's what I'd like for it to say." Then, as he gets up to to leave, he can keep a straight face no longer. "It'll say Nirvana," he laughs.

"Come on." Words: Dorian Lynskey Foo Fighters - Biography | Billboard Foo Fighters Pat Smear Dave Grohl Franz Stahl William Goldsmith Nate Mendel Chris Shiflett Taylor Hawkins When Foo Fighters released a debut album written and recorded entirely by leader Dave Grohl -- at that point known only as the powerhouse drummer for Nirvana -- in the summer of 1995, few would have guessed that the group would wind up as the one band to survive the '90s alt-rock explosion unscathed. Other bands burned brighter but they flamed out, breaking up after scoring a hit or two, while the Foos steadily racked up success after success, filling stadiums around the world while staying on top of the charts all the way into the second decade of the new millennium. Once the band's lineup coalesced around the time of its third album in 1999, Foo Fighters' sound also gelled into a recognizable signature built upon the heavy, melodic, loud-quiet-loud template of the Pixies and Nirvana, the modern rock anchored by a love of classic guitar rock.

It was commercial without pandering, creatively restless without being alienating, a sound with wide appeal delivered by a band that was happy to tour and record the way bands did back in the '70s. When Wasting Light became their first number one album in America upon its release in the spring of 2011, it was confirmation that Foo Fighters were survivors who had earned a large, devoted audience primarily through hard work. All of this industriousness stems from Dave Grohl, who had been playing guitar and writing songs long before he began drumming. Throughout his early teens he performed in a variety of hardcore punk bands and in the late '80s he joined the Washington, D.C.-area hardcore band Scream as their drummer. During Scream's final days, Grohl began recording his own material in the basement studio of his friend Barrett Jones. Some of Grohl's songs appeared on Scream's final album, Fumble. Following the band's 1990 summer tour, Grohl joined Nirvana and moved cross-country to Seattle. After Nirvana recorded Nevermind, Grohl went back to the D.C. area and recorded a handful of tracks that would appear on Pocketwatch, a cassette released by Simple Machines.

For most of 1992, he was busy with Nirvana, but when the band was off the road, he recorded solo material with Jones, who had also moved to Seattle. The pair kept recording throughout early 1993, when Grohl returned to Nirvana to record In Utero. Grohl had toyed with the idea of releasing another independent cassette in the summer of 1993, but the plans never reached fruition. Following Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994, the drummer kept quiet for several months. In the fall of 1994, Grohl and Jones decamped to a professional studio and recorded the songs that comprised Foo Fighters' debut album in a week. Boiling down his backlog of songs to about 15 tracks, Grohl played all of the instruments on the album. He made 100 copies of the tape, passing it out to friends and associates. In no time, Grohl's solo project became the object of a fierce record company bidding war. Instead of embarking on a full-fledged solo career, Grohl decided to form a band. Through his wife he met Nate Mendel, the bassist for Sunny Day Real Estate.

Shortly before the pair met, Jeremy Enigk, the leader of Sunny Day Real Estate, had converted to Christianity and quit the band, effectively ending the group's career. Not only did Mendel join Grohl's band, but so did Sunny Day's drummer, William Goldsmith. Former Germs and Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear rounded out the lineup. The band, named Foo Fighters after a World War II secret force that allegedly researched UFOs, signed a contract with Capitol Records. The band's self-titled debut, consisting solely of Dave Grohl's solo recordings, was released on July 4, 1995. It became an instant success in America, as "This Is a Call" garnered heavy alternative and album rock airplay. By early 1996, the album was certified platinum in the U.S. Throughout 1996, Foo Fighters supported the album with an extensive tour, enjoying a crossover hit with "Big Me" that spring. Late in the year, the group began recording its second album with producer Gil Norton. During the sessions, William Goldsmith left the band due to creative tensions, leaving Grohl to drum on the majority of the album.

Before the record's release, Goldsmith was replaced by Taylor Hawkins, who had previously drummed with Alanis Morissette. The Colour and the Shape, Foo Fighters' second album and the first they recorded as a band, was issued in May of 1997. Smear left the group in the wake of the album's completion and was replaced by guitarist Franz Stahl, whose stay proved short-lived; 1999's There Is Nothing Left to Lose was recorded as a three-piece, with ex-No Use for a Name guitarist Chris Shiflett signing on soon after. One by One, the group's most polished production, appeared in late 2002, followed by 2005's In Your Honor, which narrowly missed the top of Billboard's album chart. After releasing a live album titled Skin and Bones in 2006, the band returned to Norton's studio and started constructing a dozen fractured, eclectic rock songs to be released in 2007 under the name Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace.

Two years later, the group released its first compilation, Greatest Hits, as Grohl launched his new supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, which also featured Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. Foo Fighters reconvened for 2011's Wasting Light, a Butch Vig production that doubled as the official return of Pat Smear, who hadn't played on any of the band's albums since 1997. Wasting Light wound up as a smash success for the Foos, debuting at number one on the Billboard charts, going gold in the U.S. and garnering the band another four Grammy Awards. In the wake of Wasting Light, several other Foo projects emerged -- a limited-edition compilation of covers called Medium Rare released for Record Store Day 2011; a documentary of the band called Back and Forth -- and the group toured the album into 2012. In 2012, Foo Fighters announced they were taking a hiatus and Dave Grohl immediately returned to the confines of Queens of the Stone Age, drumming on their 2013 album, ...Like Clockwork.

He also threw himself into directing a documentary about the legendary Los Angeles recording studio Sound City. The film appeared early in 2013 to positive reviews, and it was accompanied by a soundtrack called Sound City: Reel to Real, which featured Grohl-directed jams including a variety of Sound City veterans, plus Paul McCartney. Not long after its release, Foo Fighters announced that their hiatus had ended and they were working on a new album. Sonic Highways, released late in 2014, was their most ambitious project yet; each track was recorded in a different city, some with special featured guests, a process documented on an eight-episode documentary series for HBO. Sonic Highways saw international release in early November 2014. During the Sonic Highways world tour, the Foos had the honor of being the final band to perform on The Late Show with David Letterman on May 24, 2015. Soon after, as touring resumed, Grohl fell from the stage during a stop in Sweden, breaking his leg.

He performed from a throne for the remainder of the tour, which was rechristened the "Broken Leg Tour." In late 2015, both as a gesture of appreciation to fans and a tribute to the victims of the Paris terror attacks, Foo Fighters released the Saint Cecilia EP, a five-song blast that featured Gary Clark, Jr. and Ben Kweller. It returned the band to the Billboard charts, peaking in the Top 20 on the Hard Rock, Alternative, Tastemaker, and Vinyl charts. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi Related Artists Foo Fighters | Artists | Blue Note Records Recording period between 2005-2005 When Foo Fighters released a debut album written and recorded entirely by leader Dave Grohl -- at that point known only as the powerhouse drummer for Nirvana -- in the summer of 1995, few would have guessed that the group would wind up as the one band to survive the '90s alt-rock explosion unscathed.

Other bands burned brighter but they flamed out, breaking up after scoring a hit or two, but the Foos steadily racked up success after success, filling up stadiums around the world while staying on top of the charts all the way into the second decade of the new millennium. Once the band's lineup coalesced around the time of its third album in 1999, Foo Fighters' sound also gelled into a recognizable signature built upon the heavy, melodic, loud-quiet-loud template of the Pixies and Nirvana, the modern rock anchored by a love of classic guitar rock. It was commercial without pandering, creatively restless without being alienating, a sound with wide appeal delivered by a band that was happy to tour and record the way bands did back in the '70s. When Wasting Light became their first number one album in America upon its release in the spring of 2011, it was confirmation that Foo Fighters were survivors who had earned a large, devoted audience primarily through hard work. All of this industriousness stems from Dave Grohl, who had been playing guitar and writing songs long before he began drumming.

Throughout his early teens he performed in a variety of hardcore punk bands and in the late '80s he joined the Washington, D.C.-area hardcore band Scream as their drummer. During Scream's final days, Grohl began recording his own material in the basement studio of his friend Barrett Jones. Some of Grohl's songs appeared on Scream's final album, Fumble. Following the band's 1990 summer tour, Grohl joined Nirvana and moved cross-country to Seattle. After Nirvana recorded Nevermind, Grohl went back to the D.C. area and recorded a handful of tracks that would appear on Pocketwatch, a cassette released by Simple Machines. For most of 1992, he was busy with Nirvana, but when the band was off the road, he recorded solo material with Jones, who had also moved to Seattle. The pair kept recording throughout early 1993, when Grohl returned to Nirvana to record In Utero. Grohl had toyed with the idea of releasing another independent cassette in the summer of 1993, but the plans never reached fruition. Following Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994, the drummer kept quiet for several months.

In the fall of 1994, Grohl and Jones decamped to a professional studio and recorded the songs that comprised Foo Fighters' debut album in a week. Boiling down his backlog of songs to about 15 tracks, Grohl played all of the instruments on the album. He made 100 copies of the tape, passing it out to friends and associates. In no time, Grohl's solo project became the object of a fierce record company bidding war. Instead of embarking on a full-fledged solo career, Grohl decided to form a band. Through his wife he met Nate Mendel, the bassist for Sunny Day Real Estate. Shortly before the pair met, Jeremy Enigk, the leader of Sunny Day Real Estate, had converted to Christianity and quit the band, effectively ending the group's career. Not only did Mendel join Grohl's band, but so did Sunny Day's drummer, William Goldsmith. Former Germs and Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear rounded out the lineup. The band, named Foo Fighters after a World War II secret force that allegedly researched UFOs, signed a contract with Capitol Records.

The band's self-titled debut, consisting solely of Dave Grohl's solo recordings, was released on July 4, 1995. It became an instant success in America, as "This Is a Call" garnered heavy alternative and album rock airplay. By early 1996, the album was certified platinum in the U.S. Throughout 1996, Foo Fighters supported the album with an extensive tour, enjoying a crossover hit with "Big Me" that spring. Late in the year, the group began recording its second album with producer Gil Norton. During the sessions, William Goldsmith left the band due to creative tensions, leaving Grohl to drum on the majority of the album. Before the record's release, Goldsmith was replaced by Taylor Hawkins, who had previously drummed with Alanis Morissette. The Colour and the Shape, Foo Fighters' second album and the first they recorded as a band, was issued in May of 1997.

Smear left the group in the wake of the album's completion and was replaced by guitarist Franz Stahl, whose stay proved short-lived; 1999's There Is Nothing Left to Lose was recorded as a three-piece, with ex-No Use for a Name guitarist Chris Shiflett signing on soon after. One by One, the group's most polished production, appeared in late 2002, followed by 2005's In Your Honor, which narrowly missed the top of Billboard's album chart. After releasing a live album titled Skin and Bones in 2006, the band returned to Norton's studio and started constructing a dozen fractured, eclectic rock songs to be released in 2007 under the name Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace. Two years later, the group released its first compilation, Greatest Hits, as Grohl launched his new supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, which also featured Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.

Foo Fighters reconvened for 2011's Wasting Light, a Butch Vig production that doubled as the official return of Pat Smear, who hadn't played on any of the band's albums since 1997. Wasting Light wound up as a smash success for the Foos, debuting at number one on the Billboard charts and garnering the band another four Grammy Awards. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Foo Fighters — Listen for free on Spotify Foo Fighters Play on Spotify When Foo Fighters released a debut album written and recorded entirely by leader Dave Grohl -- at that point known only as the powerhouse drummer for Nirvana -- in the summer of 1995, few would have guessed that the group would wind up as the one band to survive the '90s alt-rock explosion unscathed. Other bands burned brighter but they flamed out, breaking up after scoring a hit or two, while the Foos steadily racked up success after success, filling stadiums around the world while staying on top of the charts all the way into the second decade of the new millennium.

Once the band's lineup coalesced around the time of its third album in 1999, Foo Fighters' sound also gelled into a recognizable signature built upon the heavy, melodic, loud-quiet-loud template of the Pixies and Nirvana , the modern rock anchored by a love of classic guitar rock. It was commercial without pandering, creatively restless without being alienating, a sound with wide appeal delivered by a band that was happy to tour and record the way bands did back in the '70s. When Wasting Light became their first number one album in America upon its release in the spring of 2011, it was confirmation that Foo Fighters were survivors who had earned a large, devoted audience primarily through hard work. All of this industriousness stems from Dave Grohl , who had been playing guitar and writing songs long before he began drumming. Throughout his early teens he performed in a variety of hardcore punk bands and in the late '80s he joined the Washington, D.C.-area hardcore band Scream as their drummer. During Scream 's final days, Grohl began recording his own material in the basement studio of his friend Barrett Jones.

Some of Grohl 's songs appeared on Scream 's final album, Fumble. Following the band's 1990 summer tour, Grohl joined Nirvana and moved cross-country to Seattle. After Nirvana recorded Nevermind, Grohl went back to the D.C. area and recorded a handful of tracks that would appear on Pocketwatch, a cassette released by Simple Machines . For most of 1992, he was busy with Nirvana , but when the band was off the road, he recorded solo material with Jones, who had also moved to Seattle. The pair kept recording throughout early 1993, when Grohl returned to Nirvana to record In Utero. Grohl had toyed with the idea of releasing another independent cassette in the summer of 1993, but the plans never reached fruition. Following Kurt Cobain 's suicide in 1994, the drummer kept quiet for several months. In the fall of 1994, Grohl and Jones decamped to a professional studio and recorded the songs that comprised Foo Fighters' debut album in a week. Boiling down his backlog of songs to about 15 tracks, Grohl played all of the instruments on the album.

He made 100 copies of the tape, passing it out to friends and associates. In no time, Grohl 's solo project became the object of a fierce record company bidding war. Instead of embarking on a full-fledged solo career, Grohl decided to form a band. Through his wife he met Nate Mendel, the bassist for Sunny Day Real Estate . Shortly before the pair met, Jeremy Enigk , the leader of Sunny Day Real Estate , had converted to Christianity and quit the band, effectively ending the group's career. Not only did Mendel join Grohl 's band, but so did Sunny Day 's drummer, William Goldsmith. Former Germs and Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear rounded out the lineup. The band, named Foo Fighters after a World War II secret force that allegedly researched UFOs, signed a contract with Capitol Records . The band's self-titled debut, consisting solely of Dave Grohl 's solo recordings, was released on July 4, 1995. It became an instant success in America, as "This Is a Call" garnered heavy alternative and album rock airplay. By early 1996, the album was certified platinum in the U.S.

Throughout 1996, Foo Fighters supported the album with an extensive tour, enjoying a crossover hit with "Big Me" that spring. Late in the year, the group began recording its second album with producer Gil Norton. During the sessions, William Goldsmith left the band due to creative tensions, leaving Grohl to drum on the majority of the album. Before the record's release, Goldsmith was replaced by Taylor Hawkins , who had previously drummed with Alanis Morissette . The Colour and the Shape, Foo Fighters' second album and the first they recorded as a band, was issued in May of 1997. Smear left the group in the wake of the album's completion and was replaced by guitarist Franz Stahl, whose stay proved short-lived; 1999's There Is Nothing Left to Lose was recorded as a three-piece, with ex- No Use for a Name guitarist Chris Shiflett signing on soon after. One by One, the group's most polished production, appeared in late 2002, followed by 2005's In Your Honor, which narrowly missed the top of Billboard's album chart.

After releasing a live album titled Skin and Bones in 2006, the band returned to Norton's studio and started constructing a dozen fractured, eclectic rock songs to be released in 2007 under the name Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace. Two years later, the group released its first compilation, Greatest Hits, as Grohl launched his new supergroup Them Crooked Vultures , which also featured Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Led Zeppelin 's John Paul Jones . Foo Fighters reconvened for 2011's Wasting Light, a Butch Vig production that doubled as the official return of Pat Smear , who hadn't played on any of the band's albums since 1997. Wasting Light wound up as a smash success for the Foos, debuting at number one on the Billboard charts, going gold in the U.S. and garnering the band another four Grammy Awards.

In the wake of Wasting Light, several other Foo projects emerged -- a limited-edition compilation of covers called Medium Rare released for Record Store Day 2011; a documentary of the band called Back and Forth -- and the group toured the album into 2012. In 2012, Foo Fighters announced they were taking a hiatus and Dave Grohl immediately returned to the confines of Queens of the Stone Age , drumming on their 2013 album, ...Like Clockwork. He also threw himself into directing a documentary about the legendary Los Angeles recording studio Sound City. The film appeared early in 2013 to positive reviews, and it was accompanied by a soundtrack called Sound City: Reel to Real, which featured Grohl -directed jams including a variety of Sound City veterans, plus Paul McCartney . Not long after its release, Foo Fighters announced that their hiatus had ended and they were working on a new album. Sonic Highways, released late in 2014, was their most ambitious project yet; each track was recorded in a different city, some with special featured guests, a process documented on an eight-episode documentary series for HBO.

Sonic Highways saw international release in early November 2014. During the Sonic Highways world tour, the Foos had the honor of being the final band to perform on The Late Show with David Letterman on May 24, 2015. Soon after, as touring resumed, Grohl fell from the stage during a stop in Sweden, breaking his leg. He performed from a throne for the remainder of the tour, which was rechristened the "Broken Leg Tour." In late 2015, both as a gesture of appreciation to fans and a tribute to the victims of the Paris terror attacks, Foo Fighters released the Saint Cecilia EP, a five-song blast that featured Gary Clark, Jr. and Ben Kweller . It returned the band to the Billboard charts, peaking in the Top 20 on the Hard Rock, Alternative, Tastemaker, and Vinyl charts.

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi Read More Show less Foo Fighters | Download Music, Tour Dates & Video | eMusic Group Members: Taylor Hawkins And The Coattail Riders , Pat Smear All Music Guide: When Foo Fighters released a debut album written and recorded entirely by leader Dave Grohl -- at that point known only as the powerhouse drummer for Nirvana -- in the summer of 1995, few would have guessed that the group would wind up as the one band to survive the '90s alt-rock explosion unscathed. Other bands burned brighter but they flamed out, breaking up after scoring a hit or two, but the Foos steadily racked up success after success, filling up stadiums around the world while staying on top of the charts all the way into the second decade of the new millennium. Once the band's lineup coalesced around the time of its third album in 1999, Foo Fighters' sound also gelled into a recognizable signature built upon the heavy, melodic, loud-quiet-loud template of the Pixies and Nirvana, the modern rock anchored by a love of classic guitar rock.

It was commercial without pandering, creatively restless without being alienating, a sound with wide appeal delivered by a band that was happy to tour and record the way bands did back in the '70s. When Wasting Light became their first number one album in America upon its release in the spring of 2011, it was confirmation that Foo Fighters were survivors who had earned a large, devoted audience primarily through hard work. All of this industriousness stems from Dave Grohl, who had been playing guitar and writing songs long before he began drumming. Throughout his early teens he performed in a variety of hardcore punk bands and in the late '80s he joined the Washington, D.C.-area hardcore band Scream as their drummer. During Scream's final days, Grohl began recording his own material in the basement studio of his friend Barrett Jones. Some of Grohl's songs appeared on Scream's final album, Fumble. Following the band's 1990 summer tour, Grohl joined Nirvana and moved cross-country to Seattle. After Nirvana recorded Nevermind, Grohl went back to the D.C. area and recorded a handful of tracks that would appear on Pocketwatch, a cassette released by Simple Machines.

For most of 1992, he was busy with Nirvana, but when the band was off the road, he recorded solo material with Jones, who had also moved to Seattle. The pair kept recording throughout early 1993, when Grohl returned to Nirvana to record In Utero. Grohl had toyed with the idea of releasing another independent cassette in the summer of 1993, but the plans never reached fruition. Following Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994, the drummer kept quiet for several months. In the fall of 1994, Grohl and Jones decamped to a professional studio and recorded the songs that comprised Foo Fighters' debut album in a week. Boiling down his backlog of songs to about 15 tracks, Grohl played all of the instruments on the album. He made 100 copies of the tape, passing it out to friends and associates. In no time, Grohl's solo project became the object of a fierce record company bidding war. Instead of embarking on a full-fledged solo career, Grohl decided to form a band. Through his wife he met Nate Mendel, the bassist for Sunny Day Real Estate.

Shortly before the pair met, Jeremy Enigk, the leader of Sunny Day Real Estate, had converted to Christianity and quit the band, effectively ending the group's career. Not only did Mendel join Grohl's band, but so did Sunny Day's drummer, William Goldsmith. Former Germs and Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear rounded out the lineup. The band, named Foo Fighters after a World War II secret force that allegedly researched UFOs, signed a contract with Capitol Records. The band's self-titled debut, consisting solely of Dave Grohl's solo recordings, was released on July 4, 1995. It became an instant success in America, as "This Is a Call" garnered heavy alternative and album rock airplay. By early 1996, the album was certified platinum in the U.S. Throughout 1996, Foo Fighters supported the album with an extensive tour, enjoying a crossover hit with "Big Me" that spring. Late in the year, the group began recording its second album with producer Gil Norton. During the sessions, William Goldsmith left the band due to creative tensions, leaving Grohl to drum on the majority of the album.

Before the record's release, Goldsmith was replaced by Taylor Hawkins, who had previously drummed with Alanis Morissette. The Colour and the Shape, Foo Fighters' second album and the first they recorded as a band, was issued in May of 1997. Smear left the group in the wake of the album's completion and was replaced by guitarist Franz Stahl, whose stay proved short-lived; 1999's There Is Nothing Left to Lose was recorded as a three-piece, with ex-No Use for a Name guitarist Chris Shiflett signing on soon after. One by One, the group's most polished production, appeared in late 2002, followed by 2005's In Your Honor, which narrowly missed the top of Billboard's album chart. After releasing a live album titled Skin and Bones in 2006, the band returned to Norton's studio and started constructing a dozen fractured, eclectic rock songs to be released in 2007 under the name Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace.

Two years later, the group released its first compilation, Greatest Hits, as Grohl launched his new supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, which also featured Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. Foo Fighters reconvened for 2011's Wasting Light, a Butch Vig production that doubled as the official return of Pat Smear, who hadn't played on any of the band's albums since 1997. Wasting Light wound up as a smash success for the Foos, debuting at number one on the Billboard charts, going gold in the U.S. and garnering the band another four Grammy Awards. In the wake of Wasting Light, several other Foo projects emerged -- a limited-edition compilation of covers called Medium Rare released for Record Store Day 2011; a documentary of the band called Back and Forth -- and the group toured the album into 2012. In 2012, the Foo Fighters announced they were taking a hiatus and Dave Grohl immediately returned to the confines of Queens of the Stone Age, drumming on their 2013 album ...Like Clockwork.

He also threw himself into directing a documentary about the legendary Los Angeles recording studio Sound City. The film appeared early in 2013 to positive reviews, and it was accompanied by a soundtrack called Sound City: Reel to Real, which featured Grohl-directed jams including a variety of Sound City veterans, plus Paul McCartney. Not long after its release, the Foo Fighters announced their hiatus had ended and they were working on a new album. Sonic Highways, released late in 2014, was their most ambitious project yet; each track was recorded in a different city, some with special featured guests, a process documented on an eight-episode documentary series for HBO. Sonic Highways saw international release in early November 2014.

Question: Who was the drummer for the band Nirvana before founding the Foo Fighters?
Answer: Dave Grohl