With Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994, and the subsequent demise of Nirvana, no one expected anything from Dave Grohl. The world would have been perfectly content with him fading away, being nothing more than “that drummer guy from Nirvana” to the next generation. Dave, however, had no such plans. By June of 1995 he had recorded an entire album and soon released his new band’s first single, This Is A Call. Although Foo Fighters have had their share of setbacks, especially concerning line-up changes, they have proven to be one of Rock’s greatest and most consistent performers.
Whilst in
Nirvana,
Dave Grohl’s songwriting for the band had been negligible, contributing only the b-side
Marigold. He had, however, been writing and recording songs by himself for quite some time. These lonely recordings would become the core of the
Foo Fighters’ self-titled debut.
Although Grohl played all of the instruments during the recording of Foo Fighters’ debut album, he soon made sure that he had a complete line-up for his new band. There had rumours that Grohl’s former Nirvana band mate Krist Novoselic would join him, but this notion was quickly dismissed when Grohl recruited Nate Mendel as their bassist. Pat Smear, who had also played with Nirvana on occasion, joined the band as guitarist. William Goldsmith was put on the drums, leaving lead vocals and guitar to Grohl, a position the public had not seen him in.
With the release of their first single and shortly thereafter their debut album, the band faced much criticism. Critics claimed that they were borrowing too heavily from Nirvana, and wrote them off as a silly spin-off group that would soon perish.
Despite the accusations of their detractors, the band persisted and soon had a loyal following. The critics were not unanimous is their disliking of the album, and many claimed the album to be a solid record, showing much promise.
Foo Fighters toured extensively to promote their debut, and within a year of its release, it had gone platinum in the US. By late 1996, Grohl was ready to head back into the studio to start recording their second album. Although their debut had been a solo effort by Grohl, this time the band as a whole would be involved. Before the album had even been finished, they experienced their first major setback. Drummer William Goldsmith decided to pack it in, citing creative differences. Despite this explanation, rumours persisted that Goldsmith had been unhappy because Grohl redid much of the drumming he had done for the album. His departure did little to slow the recording process, however, as Dave simply finished the drumming himself.
Grohl wasted no time in filling the empty slot, and soon afterwards recruited Taylor Hawkins. In May of 1997 the Foo Fighters released their second album, The Color And The Shape. The record was received with great enthusiasm by fans, and songs such as Monkey Wrench, My Hero and Everlong became instant classics. The success of the album was somewhat marred by the departure of yet another member. Pat Smear left the band and was replaced by Franz Stahl, an old band mate from Grohl’s days as Scream’s drummer. Stahl would not bring stability to the band, however. In June of 1999 he left as well. His final replacement was Chris Shiflett, who had been a guitarist for No Use For A Name.
In 1999 Foo Fighters recorded There Is Nothing Left To Lose, their third studio album. Grohl had recently divorced his wife Jennifer Youngblood, and many fans felt that this ordeal was reflected in the album’s content. That aside, the album was a great success with fans and critics alike. At the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards, the Foos walked away with 2 awards. They received the Best Rock Album accolade for There Is Nothing Left To Lose, and Learn To Fly grabbed the best Music Video award.
In August of 2001, Foo Fighters were forced to cancel several European dates following the hospitalisation of drummer Taylor Hawkins. He was admitted after “overindulging” himself following the V2001 festival in the UK. In October of the same year Dave joined Queens Of The Stone Age as their drummer. This fuelled rumours that Foo Fighters was coming to an end. Grohl denied such a move, and soon afterwards announced that the band would record a new album.
October of 2002 saw Foo Fighters releasing their fourth studio album, One By One. It was a huge hit, selling more than a million copies. Critics praised it as their best work to date. It also earned them two more Grammy Awards. At the 45th Annual Award Show they received the nod for best Hard Rock Performance (All My Life). The following year One By One followed in the footsteps of its predecessor, receiving the award for Best Rock Album.
In August of 2003, Dave married MTV producer Jordyn Blum. Later that same year the band released a live concert DVD, Everywhere But Home. Recently it was announced that the next Foo Fighters album will be a double disc set, with one being rock, and the other acoustic.
Foo Fighters have had a somewhat turbulent history, but regardless of this they have forged ahead to become one of rock’s greatest performers. With a new album in production, and ‘rock’s nicest guy’ showing no signs of loosening his powerful grip on the music industry, Foo Fighters seem determined to remain a permanent fixture on the Rock landscape for years to come.
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