Foo fighters

This article is about the band Foo Fighters. For her debut album, see Foo Fighters (album) . For light phenomena in World War II, see Foo-Fighter .

Foo fighters
Live performance by the Foo Fighters
General information
origin	Seattle , Washington , United States
Genre (s)	Alternative rock , post-grunge , hard rock
founding	1994 in Seattle , Washington state
Website	www.foofighters.com
Founding members
Lead vocals , guitar , electric bass , drums	Dave Grohl
Current occupation
Lead vocals, guitar, keyboard	Dave Grohl
Rhythm guitar , background vocals	Pat Smear (1995–1997, since 2010, live and session: 2005–2010)
Electric bass	Nate Mendel (since 1995)
Drums, percussion , vocals	Taylor Hawkins (since 1997)
Lead guitar , background vocals	Chris Shiflett (since 1999)
Keyboard	Rami Jaffee (since 2017, live and session: 2005–2017)
former members
Drums	William Goldsmith (1995–1997)
Rhythm guitar, background vocals	Franz Stahl (1997–1999)

Foo Fighters are an American rock band . The most prominent member and founder of the band is former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl .

history

Years of foundation and formation of a band (1994–1996)

Foo Fighters live at Rock am Ring 2018

Dave Grohl wrote numerous pieces of his own while at Nirvana. Except for Marigold (1993, B-side of Heart-Shaped Box ), none of the musician's compositions found their way into the band's repertoire. After the death of front man Kurt Cobain and the ensuing breakup of the band, Grohl recorded a demo tape for which he recorded all the instruments except for the guitar part of a song ( X-Static , with Greg Dulli from The Afghan Whigs ). In 1995 the demo was released as Foo Fighters . As he said in an interview with MTV, Grohl owes his psychologist to the fact that he even started the Foo Fighters project. So this motivated him not to give up music. The band name refers to the phenomenon of the foo fighters .

Grohl's solo debut and the singles This Is a Call , I'll Stick Around , For All the Cows and Big Me all hit the US charts straight away. In order to be able to promote the album and go on tour, Grohl put together a band in the same year that initially consisted of the former Nirvana Tour and The Germs guitarist Pat Smear and Sunny Day Real Estate - Rhythm section - bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith - consisted.

Success with The Color and the Shape and There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1997–1999)

They were also involved in the recordings for the second album. During the recording, however, there was an argument between Grohl and Goldsmith, which ultimately led to his sacking. After the release of The Color and the Shape in May 1997, Taylor Hawkins was hired as the new drummer, who previously worked for Alanis Morissette . On the album itself, Grohl recorded almost all of the drum parts himself; Goldsmith can only be heard in two pieces. Even Pat Smear got out of the band. He was replaced first by Franz Stahl (Ex- Scream member) and finally by Chris Shiflett from No Use for a Name . In 1999 the third album There Is Nothing Left to Lose was released , which contained hit singles such as Learn To Fly and Breakout and was awarded the Grammys as best rock album (2001).

One by One , In Your Honor and Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace (2000-2007)

In 2000 Grohl mainly worked on his own heavy metal project called Probot and toured as a drummer with the Queens of the Stone Age . At the same time, Taylor Hawkins began treatment for several months because of increasing drug problems. In 2001, the recording of One by One , the fourth album, began. It was released in 2002. As a guest you can hear the Queen guitarist Brian May in the song Tired of You .

In the US election campaign in 2004, the band supported the Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry with several live performances. She did so in response to George W. Bush's use of her Times Like These title on his rallies. In the spring of 2005, In Your Honor was released , a double album that contains ten pieces in the classic Foo Fighters style as well as ten acoustic pieces. Ex- Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones played a key role in this production as arranger and keyboardist.

After their in-your-honor world tour (late 2005 / early 2006) the band had planned a small acoustic tour through the USA and two European cities, on which they presented their acoustic set, which consists of songs from their acoustic CD and consists of other, older Foo Fighters songs (e.g. Everlong, See You ) in acoustic style.

Their new album Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace was released on September 25, 2007 , the first release of which, The Pretender, entered the German single charts at number 95. For the album (best rock album) and the single (best hard rock performance), the Foo Fighters won their Grammys number 5 and 6 on February 10, 2008 with three other nominations. At the Brit Awards 2008 they were among the most successful international performers with two awards for best band and best album.

Break and return with Wasting Light (2008-2013)

The Foo Fighters 2009
(from left to right: Hawkins, Grohl, Mendel, Shiflett; without Smear)

On September 17, 2008, Dave Grohl announced on the Chris Moyles Show that the band would take a longer break. In addition, their fans shouldn't expect new music for a long time. Dave Grohl commented: “We've never really taken a long break, I think it's time, After doing Wembley we shouldn't come back there for 10 years because we've played to everybody. We're over in the UK every year, every summer, so I think it's time to take a break and come back over when people really miss us. "

However, on February 12, 2009, drummer Taylor Hawkins contradicted Grohl's testimony. He claimed that this was by no means such a long break, but that the band was already collecting ideas for their next studio album, which they would produce in the summer of that year. The album was called Wasting Light and was released on April 8, 2011. The first single Rope was presented on February 23, 2011. At the beginning of February 2011 it was announced on the Foo Fighters homepage that Pat Smear was back as a permanent member of the band.

On the occasion of Record Store Day , the band released the album Medium Rare on April 16, 2011 , for which the Foo Fighters cover versions of songs by u. a. Hüsker Dü, Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy and Cream have recorded. The album is limited to 2,000 copies and has only been released as a record (vinyl).

In the film Thor (2011), Thor and Selvig are sitting in a bar and the piece Walk is played during the credits .

On September 6, 2012, the band performed at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte to nominate Barack Obama for the 2012 US presidential election . On October 2, 2012, the band announced that they would not play any more concerts for an indefinite period. It was not clear when the band would play together again, but it was by no means a separation, said lead singer Dave Grohl . But on February 20, 2013, Dave Grohl announced that the band would go into the studio that same week.

Sonic Highways (2014) and Saint Cecilia EP (2015)

On November 10, 2014, the eighth studio album was released, which, according to Dave Grohl, should take a completely new direction. The title of the album is Sonic Highways . It was produced in eight US recording studios. The recordings were accompanied by a camera team and, together with interviews with well-known musicians and information on the musical history of the respective city, processed into a series on the cable broadcaster HBO , which bears the same name as the album. In Germany the series could be seen on the pay-TV channel Spiegel Geschichte .

The Sonic Highways World Tour , which will run from November 2014, was overshadowed on June 12, 2015 in Gothenburg (Sweden) by an accident in which Dave Grohl fell off the stage after the second song and broke his leg. To everyone's amazement, however, he played the concert with his leg in a cast and doctor on stage to the end. As a result, some concerts in Europe, including two appearances at Wembley Stadium and the headline appearance at Glastonbury Festival, were canceled.

Foo Fighters played in Boston in July 2015. Dave Grohl is sitting on a motorized chair because of his broken leg.

The first concert after the broken leg was on July 4th, 2015 in Washington DC The Sonic Highways World Tour then continued under the name "Break-a-leg Tour". Dave Grohl then played the rest of the gigs in the US and Europe on a throne designed by him in the hospital.

The tour was overshadowed again in November by the terrorist attacks in Paris, where the band was supposed to play shortly afterwards. In solidarity with the victims, however, the Foo Fighters canceled the last three concerts and then thanked the fans with the release of the Saint Cecilia EP.

Rumors of a possible breakup (2015)

After the personal letter from Dave Grohl, which was enclosed with the Saint Cecilia EP and some solo appearances by the band members, rumors of separation emerged. However, the band refuted this with a YouTube video. It says that the band may need a break, but will never break up.

Current creative phase (since 2017)

In June 2017 the band announced their new album with the release of the single Run . The album was released on September 15th. In addition, keyboardist Rami Jaffee is now officially part of the band.

On the occasion of the Grammy Awards 2020 , a tribute concert for Prince took place on January 28, 2020 in the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles under the motto "Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince", in which the Foo Fighters performed the song Darling Nikki (1984) sang from the album Purple Rain . The concert aired on U.S. television on April 21, 2020, the fourth anniversary of Prince's death.

Occupations

Music videos

The videos for the singles had a special meaning in the history of the Foo Fighters from the beginning . Due to the video for Big Me (1996) - a parody of the famous Mentos advertisement - it became common practice to throw these sweets at Dave Grohl at concerts, which practically nobody does today at the singer's request.

Their second album included Everlong , which was produced under the direction of Michel Gondry and tells a story in different dream realities.

In the video for their hit single Learn to Fly (1999), each band member plays different people on board an airplane, the crew of which, like almost all passengers , were accidentally drugged by cleaning staff (played by Jack Black and Kyle Gass from Tenacious D ). In 2001 this work was awarded a Grammy .

The video for Low (2003) shows Grohl and again Jack Black as special interests - living rednecks . The two drive to a lonely motel in the country to spend an excessive night of sex and drugs in disguise. Therefore, most of the music channels did not broadcast it.

For In Your Honor's first single , Best of You (2005), a performance video was mixed with a collage of various TV images, directed by Mark Pellington .

In the video for Long Road to Ruin (2007), the Foo Fighters once again show their penchant for disguises, which shows, among other things, a parody of soaps from the 1970s.

In the video for White Limo (2011), Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead plays the chauffeur, and this video was shot with a commercially available digital camera.

The video for Walk (2011) is an adaptation of the film Falling Down with Michael Douglas. Dave Grohl slips into the role of the tie wearer who loses his nerve standing in a traffic jam and starts a course of escalating violence on foot.

A tendency towards disguises in their videos can be seen again in the video for Run (2017). The band disguises itself as residents of a nursing home for seniors trying to break out of the home. Various critics see this as an homage to the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest . Dave Grohl himself directed. It was nominated for the MTV European Music Award in the Best Video category.

Discography

→ Main article : Foo Fighters / Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	skirt
1995	Foo fighters	DE33 (15 weeks) DE	AT13 (12 weeks) AT	CH26 (7 weeks) CH	UK3 gold (24 weeks)UK	US23 platinum (51 weeks)US	-	First published: July 4th, 1995 Sales: + 1,100,000
1997	The color and the shape	DE41 (6 weeks) DE	AT19 (7 weeks) AT	CH50 (1 week) CH	UK3 × 2 Double platinum (32 weeks)UK	US10 platinum (74 weeks)US	-	First published: May 20, 1997 Sales: + 1,877,500
1999	There Is Nothing Left to Lose	DE23 (4 weeks) DE	AT34 (2 weeks) AT	-	UK10 platinum (44 weeks)UK	US10 platinum (41 weeks)US	-	First published: November 2nd, 1999 Sales: + 1,340,000
2002	One by one	DE5 (12 weeks) DE	AT19 (13 weeks) AT	CH28 (10 weeks) CH	UK1 × 2 Double platinum (61 weeks)UK	US3 platinum (50 weeks)US	-	First published: October 22, 2002 Sales: + 1,520,000
2005	In your honor	DE4 (17 weeks) DE	AT5 gold (20 weeks)AT	CH7 (14 weeks) CH	UK2 × 2 Double platinum (45 weeks)UK	US2 platinum (37 weeks)US	-	First published: June 14, 2005 Sales: + 2,315,000
2007	Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace	DE3 gold (30 weeks)DE	AT4th gold (22 weeks)AT	CH2 (11 weeks) CH	UK1 × 2 Double platinum (48 weeks)UK	US3 platinum (48 weeks)US	skirt1 (24 weeks) skirt	First published: September 25, 2007 Sales: + 1,865,000
2011	Wasting light	DE1 gold (30 weeks)DE	AT1 gold (37 weeks)AT	CH1 gold (27 weeks)CH	UK1 platinum (41 weeks)UK	US1 platinum (58 weeks)US	skirt1 (56 weeks) skirt	First published: April 12, 2011 Sales: + 1,700,000
2014	Sonic Highways	DE2 gold (19 weeks)DE	AT3 gold (11 weeks)AT	CH2 (18 weeks) CH	UK2 platinum (33 weeks)UK	US2 (14 weeks) US	skirt1 (31 weeks) skirt	First published: November 10, 2014 Sales: + 715,000
2017	Concrete and gold	DE2 (11 weeks) DE	AT1 (10 weeks) AT	CH1 gold (12 weeks)CH	UK1 gold (19 weeks)UK	US1 (13 weeks) US	skirt1 (16 weeks) skirt	First published: September 15, 2017 Sales: + 200,000

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Awards

• BRIT Awards
  • 2008: for "International Group"
  • 2008: for "International Album" (Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace)
  • 2012: for "International Group"
  • 2018: for "International Group"

• Grammy Awards
  • 2001: for "Best Rock Album" (There Is Nothing Left to Lose)
  • 2001: for "Best Short Form Music Video" (Learn to Fly)
  • 2003: for "Best Hard Rock Performance" (All My Life)
  • 2004: for "Best Rock Album" (One by One)
  • 2008: for "Best Rock Album" (Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace)
  • 2008: for "Best Hard Rock Performance" (The Pretender)
  • 2012: for "Best Rock Album" (Wasting Light)
  • 2012: for "Best Rock Song" (Walk)
  • 2012: for "Best Rock Performance" (Walk)
  • 2012: for "Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance" (White Limo)
  • 2012: for "Best Long Form Music Video" (Back and Forth)
  • 2018: for "Best Rock Song" (Run)

• MTV Video Music Awards
  • 1996 : for "Best Group Video" (Big Me)
  • 2011 : for "Best Rock Video" (Walk)

Web links

Commons : Foo Fighters  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Foo Fighters at laut.de
• Foo fighters at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Online magazine NME, interview with Taylor Hawkins , February 12, 2009, accessed September 17, 2009
2. ↑ Band homepage, News , February 23, 2011, accessed on February 24, 2011 ( Memento from August 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ Democratic Party Conference: Prominent Support for Obama , sueddeutsche.de, September 7, 2012 (accessed September 7, 2012).
4. ↑ DPA-InfolineRS: Music: Foo Fighters take a break - no separation. In: Focus Online . October 3, 2012, accessed October 14, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Foo Fighters go back to the studio . fan-lexikon.de. February 21, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
6. ↑ Foo Fighters - 2014 album recordings . Visions . August 19, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
7. ↑ [1]
8. ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg Germany: Fall on the stage: Foo Fighters singer breaks his leg - and continues to rock - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Panorama. In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. Retrieved December 26, 2016 . 
9. ↑ Foo Fighters: New EP "Saint Cecilia" as a free download - laut.de - News . In: laut.de . ( Online [accessed December 26, 2016]).
10. ↑ Foo Fighters prank the music world . In: Metal Hammer . March 3, 2016 ( online [accessed December 26, 2016]).
11. ↑ Article on www.alternativenation.net/ from June 2, 2017: Dave Grohl Announces New Foo Fighters Member (English)
12. ↑ Chuck Arnold: Grammy salute 'Let's Go Crazy' proves nothing compares 2 Prince. In: nypost.com. April 21, 2020, accessed April 24, 2020 . 
13. ↑ admin: The Best Moments From 'Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute To Prince' [Videos]. In: liveforlivemusic.com. April 21, 2020, accessed April 24, 2020 . 
14. ^ Foo Fighters - "Run" . In: Spin . June 1, 2017 ( online [accessed November 12, 2017]).
15. ↑ Foo Fighters' VMA Nomination Is Way More Meaningful Than You Might Think . In: MTV News . ( Online [accessed November 12, 2017]).
16. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US US rock albums US rock singles
17. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/2008