Background and first demos (1990–1994) (pictured in 2019) founded Foo Fighters after his band
Nirvana disbanded in 1994. In 1990,
Dave Grohl joined the
grunge band
Nirvana as the drummer. During tours, he took a guitar with him and wrote songs, but was too intimidated to share them with the band. He was "in awe" of the songs written by Nirvana's frontman,
Kurt Cobain. Grohl occasionally booked studio time to record demos and covers, and released an album of demos,
Pocketwatch, under the pseudonym Late! in 1992. Nirvana disbanded after the
death of Kurt Cobain in April 1994. Grohl received offers to work with various artists. Press rumors indicated he might join
Pearl Jam, and he almost accepted a position as drummer in
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Grohl later said: "I was supposed to just join another band and be a drummer the rest of my life. I thought that I would rather do what no one expected me to do." He instead entered
Robert Lang Studios in October 1994 to record 15 of his own songs. He completed an album's worth of material in five days and handed out cassette copies of the sessions to his friends for feedback. The demo tape circulated in the industry, creating interest among record labels.
Formation and debut album (1994–1995) Grohl formed a band to support the album. He spoke to Nirvana bassist
Krist Novoselic, about joining the group, but he decided against it. Grohl said it would have felt "really natural" for them to work together, but would have been "weird" for the others and place more pressure on Grohl. Instead, Grohl recruited bassist
Nate Mendel and drummer
William Goldsmith, both of the recently disbanded Seattle
emo group
Sunny Day Real Estate. Nirvana touring guitarist
Pat Smear joined as the second guitarist. Grohl licensed the album to
Capitol Records, releasing it on his new label,
Roswell Records. Though Grohl hoped that Goldsmith would still play on the tour, Goldsmith felt betrayed and left the band.
(pictured in 2017) joined the band in 1997. In need of a replacement for Goldsmith, Grohl contacted
Alanis Morissette's touring drummer
Taylor Hawkins for a recommendation. Grohl was surprised when Hawkins volunteered himself. Stahl toured with the Foo Fighters for the next few months and appeared on two tracks recorded for movie soundtracks, a re-recording of "
Walking After You", also released as a single, for
The X-Files and "
A320" for
Godzilla. A
B-side from the "My Hero" single, "Dear Lover", appeared in the horror film
Scream 2. The tour for
The Colour and the Shape album in 1998 included performances at
Glastonbury Festival (on the main stage) and the
Reading Festival.
There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1998–2001) In 1998, the Foo Fighters traveled to Grohl's home state of Virginia, to write their third album. However, Grohl and Stahl were unable to co-operate as songwriters; Grohl told
Kerrang! in 1999, "in those few weeks it just seemed like the three of us were moving in one direction and Franz wasn't." Grohl was distraught over the decision to fire Stahl as the two had been friends since childhood. Shortly after that, Mendel called Grohl to say he was quitting to reunite with Sunny Day Real Estate, only to reverse his decision the next day. The remaining trio of Grohl, Mendel, and Hawkins spent several months recording the band's third album,
There Is Nothing Left to Lose, in Grohl's home studio. The album spawned several singles, including "
Learn to Fly", the band's first to reach the US
Billboard Hot 100. Other singles included "
Stacked Actors", "
Generator", "
Next Year", and "
Breakout". Before the release of the album,
Capitol Records president
Gary Gersh was forced out of the label. Given Grohl's history with Gersh, the Foo Fighters' contract had included a "key man clause" that allowed them to leave the label upon Gersh's departure. They left Capitol and signed with
RCA, who later acquired the rights to the band's Capitol albums. In January 2000, Mendel led a benefit concert in Hollywood for the
AIDS denialist group
Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, with a speech by the founder,
Christine Maggiore, and distribution of free copies of her self-published book,
What If Everything You Thought You Knew About AIDS Was Wrong?. The Foo Fighters website featured a section devoted to Alive & Well.
Sandra Thurman, the director of the
Office of National AIDS Policy, said this was "extraordinarily irresponsible behavior... There is no doubt about the link between HIV and AIDS in the respected scientific community." All links and references to Alive & Well were removed from the Foo Fighters website by March 2003. Around 2001, the Foo Fighters established a relationship with the English rock band
Queen, as they (particularly Grohl and Hawkins) were fans. That March, Grohl and Hawkins inducted them into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and joined them to perform the 1976 classic, "
Tie Your Mother Down", with Hawkins playing drums alongside
Roger Taylor. The guitarist
Brian May added a guitar track to the Foo Fighters' second cover of
Pink Floyd's "
Have a Cigar", which appeared on the soundtrack to the movie
Mission: Impossible 2. In 2002, May contributed guitar to "Tired of You" and the outtake "Knucklehead". The Foo Fighters and Queen have performed together on several occasions since, including
VH1 Rock Honors and the Foo Fighters' headlining concert in
Hyde Park.
One by One (2001–2004) Near the end of 2001, the Foo Fighters reconvened to record their
fourth album. After spending four months in a Los Angeles studio, the album "just didn't sound right" and the band had no confidence it would sell well. With the album not reaching their expectations amid much infighting, Grohl spent some time helping
Queens of the Stone Age complete their 2002 album
Songs for the Deaf. Once that album was finished and touring had started for both the Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age, the band was on the verge of breaking up entirely. Grohl reunited with Hawkins, Shiflett, and Mendel to play the
Coachella Festival, alternating days with Queens of the Stone Age. Hawkins and Grohl talked about resuming work on
One by One and after a very satisfying performance the following day, they agreed to stay together. The group re-recorded nearly all of the album in a ten-day stretch at Grohl's home studio in
Alexandria, Virginia, the following month. The album was released in October 2002 under the title
One by One. Singles from the album included "
All My Life", "
Times Like These", "
Low", and "
Have It All". The tour for the album included a headline performance at the 2002
Reading and Leeds Festivals. For most of its history, the band chose to stay away from the political realm. However, in 2004, upon learning that
George W. Bush's presidential campaign was using "Times Like These" at rallies, Grohl decided to lend his public support to
John Kerry's campaign, saying, "There's no way of stopping the president playing your songs, so I went out and played it for John Kerry's people instead, where I thought the message would kinda make more sense." Grohl attended several Kerry rallies and occasionally performed solo acoustic sets. The entire band joined Grohl for a performance in Arizona coinciding with one of the
presidential debates.
In Your Honor (2005–2006) Having spent a year and a half touring behind
One by One, Grohl did not want to rush into recording another Foo Fighters record. Initially Grohl intended to write acoustic material by himself but eventually the project involved the entire band. To record its fifth album, the band shifted to Los Angeles and built a recording studio, dubbed Studio 606 West. Grohl insisted that the album be divided into two discs – one full of rock songs, and the other featuring all acoustic tracks.
In Your Honor was released in June 2005. The album's singles included "
Best of You", "
DOA", "
Resolve", and "
No Way Back/Cold Day in the Sun". During September and October 2005, the band toured with
Weezer on what was billed as the Foozer Tour. The Foo Fighters played a headline performance at the 2005
Reading and Leeds Festivals. On June 17, 2006, the Foo Fighters performed their largest non-festival headlining concert to date at London's
Hyde Park. Motörhead's
Lemmy joined the band on stage to sing "Shake Your Blood" from Dave Grohl's
Probot album. As a surprise performance,
Brian May and
Roger Taylor of Queen appeared to play part of "We Will Rock You" as a lead in to "Tie Your Mother Down". In further support of
In Your Honor, the band organized a short acoustic tour for the summer of 2006. Members who had performed with them in late 2005 appeared, such as
Pat Smear,
Petra Haden on violin and backing vocals,
Drew Hester on percussion, and
Rami Jaffee of
the Wallflowers on keyboard and piano. While much of the setlist focused on
In Your Honors acoustic half, the band also used the opportunity to play lesser-known songs, such as "Ain't It The Life", "Floaty", and "See You". The band also performed "Marigold", a
Pocketwatch-era song that was best known as a
Nirvana B-side. In November 2006, the band released their first live CD,
Skin and Bones, featuring fifteen performances captured over a three-night stint in Los Angeles.
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007–2009) For the follow-up to
In Your Honor, the band worked once again with
The Colour and the Shape producer Gil Norton.
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was released on September 25, 2007. The album's first single, "
The Pretender", was issued to radio in early August. In mid-to-late 2007 "The Pretender" topped
Billboard's Modern Rock chart for a record 19 weeks. The second single, "
Long Road to Ruin", was released in December 2007, supported by a music video directed by longtime collaborator
Jesse Peretz (formerly of
the Lemonheads). Other singles included "
Let It Die" and "
Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)". In October 2007, the Foo Fighters started their world tour in support of the album. The band performed shows throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, including headlining the
Virgin Mobile Festival in
Baltimore on August 9. At the European MTV Music Awards in 2007, Pat Smear confirmed his return to the band in a touring capacity.
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was nominated for five
Grammy Awards in 2008. The Foo Fighters won
Best Rock Album and
Best Hard Rock Performance (for "The Pretender"). The album was also nominated for Album of the Year, while "The Pretender" was also nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rock Song. (left) and
Jimmy Page (second from right) of
Led Zeppelin performing at
Wembley Stadium, London, in 2008 On June 7, 2008, the band played
Wembley Stadium, London, and was joined by
Jimmy Page and
John Paul Jones of
Led Zeppelin to play "
Rock and Roll" (with Grohl on drums and Hawkins on vocals) and "
Ramble On" (sung by Grohl, drums by Hawkins). As Page and Jones left the stage before a final encore of "Best of You", an ecstatic Grohl shouted "Welcome to the greatest fucking day of my whole entire life!". Throughout the tour for
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, the Foo Fighters had been writing and practicing new songs at sound checks. After the Foo Fighters had completed this tour in September 2008, they recorded 13 new songs in Studio 606, shortly after announcing a hiatus from touring (which would last until January 2011). These sessions likely lasted from late 2008 – early 2009. While the members of the Foo Fighters had initially planned for their new album (composed of songs from this recording session) to have come out in 2009 with almost no touring support, they ultimately decided to shelve most of the songs from these sessions. Three of these songs were later released — "Wheels" and "Word Forward" (on their 2009 compilation album,
Greatest Hits); and a newly recorded version of "Rope" (which ended up making the final cut of
Wasting Light).
Wasting Light (2010–2012) In August 2010, the band began recording their seventh studio album with producer
Butch Vig, who had previously produced the two new tracks for the band's
Greatest Hits album. The album was recorded in Dave Grohl's garage using only analog equipment. The album won five Grammys and was nominated for six. The recording was analog to tape and used no computers, not even to mix or master. Vig said in an interview with MTV that the album was entirely analog until post-mastering. Pat Smear was present in many photos posted by Grohl on Twitter, and a press release in December confirmed Smear played on every track on the album and was considered an official member of the band once again. The first single from
Wasting Light, "
Rope", was released to radio in February 2011. On April 16, 2011, the Foo Fighters released an album of covers,
Medium Rare, as a limited-edition vinyl for
Record Store Day. The promotion for the album was highly praised for its originality.
Wasting Light debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200 chart, becoming the band's first album to do so. Other singles for the album included "
Walk", "
Arlandria", "
These Days", and "
Bridge Burning". Alongside
Wasting Lights release, the Foo Fighters released a rockumentary, directed by Academy Award-winner
James Moll. The film, titled
Back and Forth, chronicles the band's career. Then current and past members, and producer Butch Vig, tell the story of the band through interviews. After debuting on March 15, 2011, at the
SXSW festival in
Austin, Texas, it was released on DVD three months later. On May 21, 2011, the Foo Fighters headlined the middle day of the
Hangout Music Festival in
Gulf Shores, Alabama. On June 4, 2011, they played a surprise set at the 2011
KROQ Weenie Roast. They also headlined two sold-out shows at the
Milton Keynes National Bowl on July 2 and 3, joined on stage by artists such as
Alice Cooper,
Seasick Steve, and
John Paul Jones. They headlined the final night at the 20th anniversary of
Lollapalooza in
Chicago's
Grant Park on August 7, 2011, performing part of their set in a driving rainstorm. In September 2011 before a show in
Kansas City, the band performed a parody song in front of a protest by the
Westboro Baptist Church. It mocked the church's opposition to homosexuality and was performed in the same faux-trucker garb that was seen in the band's Hot Buns promotional video. It was announced on September 28, 2011, that the Foo Fighters would be performing during the closing ceremony of
Blizzard Entertainment's annual video game convention,
BlizzCon. On August 27, 2012, the Foo Fighters ended their European tour with a headline performance at
Reading and Leeds Festival. On September 5, the band performed a show at the Fillmore in
Charlotte, North Carolina, as a benefit for
Rock the Vote. The show, which occurred at the same time as the 2012
Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, was announced only two weeks prior. Tickets to the 2000-person capacity venue sold out in under 60 seconds, setting a record for the site. The band set another personal record during the show itself, being the longest that the band had played to date at just under 3.5 hours with a setlist of 36 songs. On September 21, the band headlined the Music Midtown Festival in
Atlanta, Georgia. The following evening, they headlined the DeLuna Festival in
Pensacola Beach, Florida. On September 29, the band performed at the Global Citizens' Festival before embarking on a break.
Sonic Highways and Saint Cecilia EP (2013–2015) Despite initially announcing a break after supporting
Wasting Light, Grohl stated in January 2013 that the band had started writing material for an eighth studio album. On February 20, 2013, at the
Brit Awards, Grohl said he was resuming work on the album the following day. On September 6, 2013, Shiflett posted a photo to his
Instagram account that indicated 13 songs were being recorded and later described it as "pretty fucking fun". Rami Jaffee has recorded parts for two songs, one of which was "In the Clear".
Butch Vig, who worked with the band on
Wasting Light, confirmed via
Twitter in late August 2013 that he was producing the album. The band confirmed that it would end its hiatus by playing two shows in
Mexico City on December 11 and 13. On October 31, a video appeared on the official Foo Fighters YouTube channel showing a motorcyclist, later revealed to be
Erik Estrada, delivering each of the band members an invitation to play in Mexico. On January 16, 2014, a picture was posted to the Foo Fighters' Facebook page with several master tapes labeled LP 8. On May 15, it was announced that the album would be released in November and that the Foo Fighters would commemorate the album and their 20th anniversary with an
HBO TV series directed by Grohl titled
Sonic Highways. Eight songs were written and recorded in eight studios in eight different American cities with video capturing the history and feel of each town. On July 30, Butch Vig revealed that the Foo Fighters had finished recording and mixing the album and that it was slated to be released a month after the premiere of the TV show. In June 2014, the band agreed to play a show in
Richmond, Virginia, that was entirely crowd-funded by fans on the website
Tilt.com. The show took place on September 17 before 1,500 fans. The band played 23 songs over the course of two and a half hours. The Foo Fighters announced their tour would include performances in
Cape Town on December 10 and Johannesburg on December 13. The band played three performances under the alias The Holy Shits in September 2014; the first at the Concorde 2 club in
Brighton, England, where Grohl invited lead singer Jay Apperley of the tribute band
UK Foo Fighters on stage to sing, followed by the House of Vans and the Islington Assembly Hall. On September 14, 2014, the band performed at the closing ceremony of the
Invictus Games, their first official show in England since closing Reading Festival in 2012. They closed out the 2014 VooDoo Music and Arts Festival in New Orleans on November 2, 2014, in a two and a half hour performance that included an appearance from New Orleans native Trombone Shorty, who played "This Is a Call" with the band. On August 8, the band released a short clip of their latest work, titled 8. On August 11, the band announced that the new album would be titled
Sonic Highways and released on November 10, 2014. An international tour, dubbed the
Sonic Highways World Tour, followed with performances in South Africa in December and South America in January 2015. It continued to
Australia and
New Zealand in February and March. On May 20, 2015, the Foo Fighters were the final musical act to perform on
Late Show with David Letterman, continuing their long association with the host as he wrapped up his 33-year career in late-night television. The show ended with a montage of Letterman highlights while the Foo Fighters played "
Everlong", which Letterman said had significant meaning for him after his open-heart surgery in 2000, introducing them as "my favorite band, playing my favorite song." The band postponed their international tour to make the appearance; the tour resumed on May 24, with a performance at
Radio 1's Big Weekend in Norwich, England. On June 12, Grohl fell from the stage in
Gothenburg, Sweden, during the group's second song, breaking his leg. The band continued playing while Grohl received medical attention, who then returned to the stage to finish the last two hours of the band's set from a chair while a medic tended to his leg. As a result of the injury, the band canceled its remaining European tour dates. in 2015 on a custom-built throne while recuperating from a broken leg The Foo Fighters planned to follow their international tour with a North American tour to promote
Sonic Highways, beginning with a special Fourth of July event in
Washington, D.C., that would commemorate the band's 20th anniversary. The all-day event was to be held at Washington's
RFK Stadium featuring performances by
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts,
Heart,
LL Cool J,
Gary Clark Jr., and
Buddy Guy. Dave Grohl's injury initially led to speculation that the band would drop out of the event but they later confirmed they would perform; however, the injury did prevent them from headlining the 2015
Glastonbury Festival. The band performed for 48,000 people with Grohl in a custom-built moving throne which he claimed to have designed himself while on painkillers. Beginning with the show on July 4, the Foo Fighters re-branded the North American tour as the Broken Leg Tour. Prior to their August 21 concert at the
Sprint Center in
Kansas City, Missouri, the band
rickrolled protesting members of the
Westboro Baptist Church, as they had also done in 2011. On November 23, 2015, a surprise release following a month-long countdown clock on the Foo Fighters' website revealed the free
EP Saint Cecilia, including
a single of the same name. Alongside its release, Grohl announced that the band would be going on an indefinite hiatus. Saint Cecilia was also the first release by the band in which touring keyboardist
Rami Jaffee was credited as an official member.
Concrete and Gold (2016–2019) In response to growing rumors of a breakup, the Foo Fighters released a
mockumentary video in March 2016 portraying Grohl leaving the band to pursue electronic music and
Nick Lachey (formerly of
98 Degrees) becoming the group's new singer, ending with: "For the millionth time, we're not breaking up. And nobody's going fucking solo!" Grohl announced that the Foo Fighters would spend much of 2017 recording their ninth studio album. On June 1, 2017, their new single "
Run" was released. It topped the US
Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart the following month. On June 20, 2017, the band announced that their new album,
Concrete and Gold, would be released in September. On August 23, 2017, "
The Sky Is a Neighborhood" was released as the second single and topped the Mainstream Rock chart.
The Line was released in promotion of the album and later as the third single in 2018.
Concrete and Gold was officially released on September 15, 2017, produced by
Greg Kurstin. The album is noted as deriving influence from
Pink Floyd,
Led Zeppelin, and
the Beatles.
Concrete and Gold also features
Justin Timberlake on vocals for "Make It Right",
Shawn Stockman of
Boyz II Men on backing vocals for the song "Concrete and Gold", and
Paul McCartney on the drums for "Sunday Rain". The band began touring in June 2017, including headlining the
Glastonbury Festival 2017. The tour in support of
Concrete and Gold was extended to October 2018.
Medicine at Midnight and Studio 666 (2019–2022) In October 2019, the band announced that they were recording their tenth studio album based on demos by Grohl. In November 2019, the band began releasing a series of EPs under the umbrella name of the
Foo Files, largely consisting of previously released B sides and live performances. By February 2020, Grohl announced that the new album was complete but by May, it was delayed indefinitely because of the
COVID-19 pandemic, saying, "We've kind of shelved it for now to figure out exactly when it's going to happen." Starting in November 2020, promotion for the album ramped up. Its title,
Medicine at Midnight, and release date, February 5, 2021, were announced. The band released three singles ahead of the album: "
Shame Shame", "
No Son of Mine", and "
Waiting on a War". In January, the band performed at the US Presidential
Inauguration of Joe Biden. On February 10, 2021, the Foo Fighters were announced as one of the 2021
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees in their first year of eligibility as their debut album had been released 25 years prior. On May 12, 2021, the Foo Fighters were announced as one of six performer inductees. For
Record Store Day on July 17, 2021, the Foo Fighters released an album of
disco covers,
Hail Satin, under the name Dee Gees. The album contains four
Bee Gees covers, a cover of
Andy Gibb's "
Shadow Dancing", plus five live versions of
Medicine at Midnight tracks. On February 25, 2022, the Foo Fighters released a comedy horror film,
Studio 666, directed by BJ McDonnell. It stars the band members as themselves, alongside
Will Forte,
Whitney Cummings,
Jeff Garlin, and
Jenna Ortega. In the film, Grohl is possessed by a demonic spirit and kills the other band members while they record in a haunted mansion. Grohl released an EP of songs from the film,
Dream Widow, on March 25, 2022.
Death of Hawkins, But Here We Are and Your Favorite Toy (2022–present) On March 25, 2022, Hawkins died in his room at the Casa Medina hotel in
Bogotá, Colombia. No cause of death was given. Hawkins had suffered chest pain, and had ten substances in his system at the time of his death, including
opioids,
benzodiazepines,
tricyclic antidepressants, and
THC, the
psychoactive compound in
cannabis. His last performance with the Foo Fighters was at
Lollapalooza Argentina on March 20, 2022, in
Buenos Aires. On the night of his death, the Foo Fighters were scheduled to perform at the
Estéreo Picnic Festival as part of their South American tour; the festival stage was turned into a
candlelight vigil for Hawkins. A few days later, the band canceled their remaining tour dates. In September, the Foo Fighters performed tribute concerts to Hawkins at
Wembley Stadium, London, and the
Kia Forum, Los Angeles.
Josh Freese played drums at both concerts. Shane Hawkins, Taylor's 16-year-old son, played drums on "My Hero" at Wembley. (right) played drums for the Foo Fighters in 2023 and 2024. In January 2023, the Foo Fighters began announcing festival appearances for the year. On May 21, in a humorous video featuring several celebrity drummers, they announced Freese as their new drummer. The Foo Fighters made a surprise appearance at
Glastonbury Festival 2023, their first Glastonbury performance since headlining in 2017. In September 2024, after Grohl announced that he had fathered a child outside his marriage, the Foo Fighters canceled their headline performance at that month's Soundside Music Festival in
Bridgeport, Connecticut. In May 2025, the Foo Fighters announced a performance at the
Singapore Grand Prix, which took place on October 4. On May 16, Freese announced that he had been fired with little explanation. On July 2, to celebrate their 30th anniversary, Foo Fighters released the single "
Today's Song". On July 30,
The Hollywood Reporter reported that
Ilan Rubin, the former touring drummer of
Nine Inch Nails, would join the group. On September 13, the Foo Fighters played their first show with Rubin at the
Fremont Theater in
San Luis Obispo, California. On October 3, the Foo Fighters surprise-released a live EP on
Bandcamp,
Are Playing Where??? Vol. 1, containing recordings from the shows with Rubin. On October 23, they released the single "
Asking for a Friend" and announced a tour with Queens of the Stone Age. Their twelfth studio album,
Your Favorite Toy, was released on April 24, 2026. On April 25, they performed "Caught in the Echo" and "Child Actor" on
Saturday Night Live UK. == Style and influences ==