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Foo Fighters are an American , 2006 ) 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 ", " DOA ", and " The Pretender ". Two of their albums, '' There Is Nothing Left To Lose '' and '' One By One '', won Grammy Award s 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. HISTORY Background See Also: Nirvana (band) Dave Grohl spent four years as the drummer for '' under the pseudonym "Late!" in 1992 . ''Foo Fighters'' 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 Eponym ous 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. ''The Colour and the Shape'' After touring through the spring of 1996 , the now full-band Foo Fighters entered a Seattle studio with producer Gil Norton to record the band's second album. However, conflict erupted between Grohl and Goldsmith, resulting in Goldsmith's decision to leave the band. The band regrouped in Los Angeles and almost completely re-recorded the album with Grohl on drums. The album, '' The Colour And The Shape '', was released on May 20 , 1997 . In need of a drummer, Grohl contacted Alanis Morissette 's touring drummer Taylor Hawkins to see if he could recommend anybody. Grohl was surprised when Hawkins volunteered himself. Hawkins made his Foo debut in time for the album's release. In September of 1997 , in front of a crowded street outside the MTV Video Music Award s, Pat Smear simultaneously announced his departure from the band and introduced his replacement, Grohl's former Scream bandmate Franz Stahl . Prior to the recording of the band's third album, Stahl departed the band, citing creative differences. The band auditioned a number of potential guitarists, and eventually settled on Chris Shiflett , who previously performed with No Use For A Name and Me First And The Gimme Gimmes . Shiflett initially joined the band as touring guitarist, but achieved full-time status prior to the recording of the group's fourth album. ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose'' Before the release of '' There Is Nothing Left To Lose '', Capitol 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 subsequently left Capitol and signed to RCA . (Gersh eventually joined forces with former Nirvana manager John Silva to form GAS Entertainment, a company that manages the Foo Fighters and other artists such as Jimmy Eat World , Beck , and the Beastie Boys .) In February of 2000, American late-night talk show host David Letterman invited the Foo Fighters to perform on his first show after undergoing Heart Bypass Surgery . Letterman introduced them by proclaiming, "My favorite band, playing my favorite song," leading into a performance of "Everlong". That same year, the Foo Fighters established a relationship with rock band Queen . 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 ''. When Queen was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March of 2001, Grohl and Hawkins were invited to perform with the band on " Tie Your Mother Down ", with Grohl filling in on vocals for the late Freddie Mercury . In 2002, guitarist May contributed guitar work to "Tired of You" and an outtake called "Knucklehead". The bands have performed together on several occasions since, including VH1 Rock Honors and the Foo Fighters' headlining concert in Hyde Park . Alive & Well In 2000, the band generated controversy through their public support of 2000 . Retrieved on 21 August 2007 . Foo Fighter bassist Nate Mendel learned of Alive & Well through ''What If Everything You Thought You Knew about AIDS Was Wrong?'', a self-published book written by Christine Maggiore , the organization's founder. Mendel passed the book around to the rest of the band, who supported his advocacy. In January 2000, the band played a benefit concert for the organization, which Mendel helped to organize. The band also contributed songs to ''The Other Side of AIDS'', a controversial 2007 . ''One by One'' Near the end of 2001 , the band reconvened to record their fourth album. After spending four months in a Los Angeles studio completing the album, Grohl spent some time helping the Queens Of The Stone Age complete their 2002 album '' Songs For The Deaf ''. Once the Queens of the Stone Age album was finished, Grohl, inspired by the sessions, decided to reconvene the Foo Fighters to rework a few songs on their album. Instead, they re-recorded nearly all of the album (save "Tired of You") in a ten-day stretch at Grohl's studio in Virginia . The final album was released in October of 2002 under the title '' One By One ''. (Hawkins jokingly refers to the first version of the album as the "Million Dollar Demos".) 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. Grohl attended several Kerry rallies and occasionally performed solo acoustic sets. The entire band eventually joined Grohl for a performance in Arizona coinciding with one of the Presidential Debates . Grohl later cited his experiences with the Kerry campaign as inspiration for the title of their next album. ''In Your Honor'' and ''Skin and Bones'' The band's next studio album was a double CD, '' In Your Honor '', released on June 14 , 2005 . To record the album, the band shifted to Los Angeles and built a recording studio, dubbed Studio 606 West. Grohl said that the two-disc release – one full of rock songs, the other featuring acoustic tracks – was a perfect memorial for the band's 10th anniversary. Grohl hinted about the release in an interview with NME magazine: "It's really amazing. The good thing about doing it is that you split it up so that there's no middle ground. So the rock stuff is the most rocking stuff we've ever worked on, ever." Of note on the acoustic part of the set is a song called "Friend of a Friend", which has a surprisingly long history. Grohl wrote the song in 1990 , basing it on his initial impressions of Cobain and Novoselic after joining Nirvana. He recorded the song in 1990 , and included it on an informal collection of songs (called ''Pocketwatch'') released on cassette in 1992 under the pseudonym "Late!". The version on ''In Your Honor'' is very similar to the original recording (albeit more polished), with Grohl simply accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar. Three days before the release of ''In Your Honor'', on June 11 , 2005 , MTV2 aired '' 24 Hours Of Foo '', a special live broadcast hosted by the Foo Fighters. The band took over the MTV2 airwaves for an entire day to host a selection of music videos and live events. During promotion of ''In Your Honor'', Grohl had the chance to feed his fascination with UFO s when the Foo Fighters performed a show in a hangar at the Roswell Industrial Air Center in Roswell, New Mexico . The Roswell Industrial Air Center is the site of the former Roswell Army Air Field where the fragments of the supposed Alien Crash Landing in 1947 were stored. (Grohl named his label Roswell Records for the incident.) Grohl commented after the show that he wished he had had a chance to examine what was being stored inside the hangar. On June 17 , 2006 , the Foo Fighters performed their largest non-festival headlining concert to date at London's Hyde Park . The band was supported by Juliette And The Licks , Angels & Airwaves , Queens Of The Stone Age , and Motörhead . Motörhead's Lemmy joined the band on stage to sing "Shake Your Blood" from Dave Grohl's Probot album. Also, as a surprise performance, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen jammed with the Foo Fighters, playing part of "We Will Rock You" as a lead into "Tie Your Mother Down". In further support of ''In Your Honor'', the band decided to organize a short acoustic tour for the summer of 2006. The tour included former guitarist Pat Smear , who rejoined the band as an extra guitarist, Petra Haden on violin, and Rami Jaffee of The Wallflowers on keyboards/piano. Much of the setlist focused on ''In Your Honor'''s acoustic CD. 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 ever live CD, '' Skin And Bones '', featuring fifteen performances captured over a three night stand in Los Angeles . An accompanying DVD was released on November 28 , 2006 , and featured tracks not available on the CD. ''Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace'' For the followup to ''In Your Honor'', the band decided to call in ''The Colour and the Shape'' producer '', is set for release on September 25 , 2007 . The album's first single, "The Pretender", was issued to radio in early August. Not long after completing the recording sessions for the album, the band participated in Live Earth at Wembley Stadium in London, England , performing the penultimate set of the night. Later that summer, the band headlined V Festival 2007, including a surprise acoustic set on the Channel 4 stage under the name 606. (Grohl considers 606 his favorite number, and named both of the band's studios Studio 606.) BAND MEMBERS Current members
Former members
Touring members
Former touring members
DISCOGRAPHY See Also: Foo Fighters discography
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