Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed by musician Dave Grohl in 1995. The group is named after the World War II term "foo fighter", used to refer to mysterious aerial phenomena.

The band has earned a worldwide following, and have scored a number of hit songs, including "This Is a Call", "Everlong", "Learn to Fly", "All My Life", "Times Like These", "Best of You", and "DOA". Two of their albums, There Is Nothing Left to Lose and One by One, won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album. On top of their five studio albums, they have also contributed to several movie soundtracks, including the song "The One" on the 2002 Orange County soundtrack.

Six months after Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, Grohl entered Robert Lang's Studio in Seattle with friend/producer Barrett Jones. With the exception of a guitar part on "X-Static" by Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs, Grohl played every instrument and sang every vocal on the tracks. Lured to Capitol Records by former Nirvana A&R (and then-Capitol president) Gary Gersh, Grohl had the demo recordings professionally mixed, with the results eventually becoming the Foo Fighters' self-titled debut album.



Grohl did not want the Foo Fighters to be a one-man studio project, so he worked to form a band to support the album. Initially, former bandmate Krist Novoselic was a main candidate for the band, but both became concerned that it might portray Foo Fighters as a reincarnation of Nirvana. Having heard through the grapevine about the disbanding of Seattle-based emocore band Sunny Day Real Estate, Grohl drafted SDRE's bass player, Nate Mendel, and drummer, William Goldsmith. Pat Smear, who was an "unofficial member" of Nirvana after the release of In Utero, was added as a second guitarist, completing the band. The Foo Fighters undertook their first major tour in the spring of 1995, opening for Mike Watt.

The band's first single "This Is a Call" was released in June of 1995, and their eponymous debut album was released the next month. "I'll Stick Around", "For All The Cows" and "Big Me" were released as subsequent singles. The band spent the months following the album's release on tour, including their first appearance at the Reading Festival in England in August. A later UK tour included a pair of nights at Brixton Academy, which were taped and compiled for an MTV special.