The 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.
Over the course of the band's existence, three of its albums have won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album, and all six have been nominated for Grammys.
The band began recording their seventh studio album on August 16, 2010 according to a post by Dave Grohl on the band's twitter account. They have been teasing their fans by posting photo updates of their album's progress on their Facebook and Twitter pages. Butch Vig will produce the album, after having produced the two new tracks from the band's compilation album. Taylor Hawkins has stated the band already has 15 songs written for the new album which will be recorded in Dave Grohl's home as opposed to the band's Studio 606. The album will be recorded on tape, not digitally as most other albums are today.
Photographic evidence posted on the Twitter page indicates that as of August 29, 2010, there are almost twenty songs recorded in some demo form. Other evidence shows that Pat Smear has been assigned "guitar chops" on several songs. It was mentioned on a radio station in Sydney, Australia that Dave Grohl hoped to release the album around Christmas, 2010. Video and photos on the Foo Fighters Twitter page show that Pat has rejoined the band as a full member, playing on all tracks on the new album.
According to Grohl, it will be the heaviest Foo Fighters album yet. According to Billboard, the band has also recruited Grohl's former Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic to play accordion and bass. A video release is due highlighting the album's studio sessions and making. The band are also due to play a two gigs at the 65,000 capacity Milton Keynes National Bowl in the United Kingdom on July 2nd and 3rd 2011. The band has frequently streamed live video of the editing room of the studio via ustream. There has been no sound available, with occasional on-camera appearances of band members and studio workers. Less Than Jake confirmed that the Foo Fighters will be headlining the Reading and Leeds Festival in 2011.
When Grohl first started the band, its music was often compared to that of his previous group, Nirvana. Grohl acknowledged that Nirvana singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain was a major influence on his songwriting. Grohl said, "Through Kurt, I saw the beauty of minimalism and the importance of music that's stripped down." Foo Fighters also utilize the Pixies' technique of shifting between quiet verses and loud chorus, which Grohl said was influenced by the members of Nirvana "liking the Knack, Bay City Rollers, Beatles, and ABBA as much as we liked Flipper and Black Flag, I suppose". Writing and recording songs for the first Foo Fighters album by himself, Grohl wrote the guitar riffs to be as rhythmic as possible. He approached the guitar similar to how he approached playing a drumkit, assigning different drum parts to different strings on the instrument. This allowed him to piece together songs easily; he said, "I could hear the song in my head before it was finished. Once Grohl assembled a full band, his bandmates assisted in song arrangements.
The members of Foo Fighters meld melodic elements with harder sounds. Grohl noted in 1997, "We all love music, whether it's the Beatles or Queen or punk rock. I think the lure of punk rock was the energy and immediacy; the need to thrash stuff around. But at the same time, we're all suckers for a beautiful melody, you know? So it is just natural." Grohl said in 2005, "I love being in a rock band, but I don't know if I necessarily wanna be in an alternative rock band from the 1990s for the rest of my life. It might be nice to broaden our range, open up the dynamic, so we can go out and just make music". Grohl noted that the band's acoustic tour was such an attempt to broaden the group's sound.
