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From the ashes of "Nirvana" came forth the "Foo Fighters" with former drummer Dave Grohl now appearing as frontman, guitarist and songwriter. The "Foo's" certainly are one of the most popular bands to appear in the late 90's after the demise of the "Grunge" era. With numerous live TV appearances and promotion from the onset, this band could only succeed. Yet they have not sold out to the 'Pop rock' genre like so many of their rivals. Their music is straight, honest, and their live shows are raw and powerful. Embraced by fans on both sides of the Atlantic and Pacific, and a favourite live act at Rock festivals, attracting thousands of ticket sales.

Biography

Definition : "Foo Fighters" - name given to UFO sightings by World War II allied aircraft pilots.

1994 - Dave Grohl forms a band, with William Goldsmith and Nate Mendel (drums and bass "Sunny Day Real Estate"), and former "Nirvana" guitarist Pat Smear. With Dave on guitar and vocals, the first "Foo Fighters" are formed. Dave records a demo tape at Robert Lang's Studio in Seattle, WA. Rumours are rife of a new band formed from the ashes of "Nirvana". Dave Grohl guest appears as drummer for Tom Petty on "Saturday Night Live". He is subsequently asked to join "The Heartbreakers", but declines, concentrating instead on his "Foo Fighters" recording project.

1995 - February. A busy year ahead for the Foo Fighters. They play their first public show at the Jambalaya Club in Arcata, CA. After brief guest appearances with "Pearl Jam" on tour in Australia, the "Foo Fighters" begin their first tour with Mike Watt and "Hovercraft".

June. They release the promo "Exhausted" 12 inch single. Later this month they release their first official single, "This is a Call" on both 7 and 12 inch versions.

July. The "Foo Fighters" debut album is released on Capitol/Roswell Records. Tracks include single "This is a Call", "I'll Stick Around", "X-Static", and former promo release, "Exhausted". They begin touring later in the month.

August. They film their first video for "I'll Stick Around", they also appear on the David Letterman show, playing "This is a Call". They appear at the Reading festival in UK, and also appear on French TV in the show "Nulle Part Ailleurs". "I'll Stick Around", is the second single release from their album.

October. They appear in Stockholm, Sweden, and feature two new songs from their forthcoming album, "Enough Space", and "Up in Arms".

November. After another appearance on French TV, they travel to London for a date at the 'Brixton Academy". The performance is recorded for an MTV special called "I'm OK Eur OK". By the end of November their Autumn tour had finished, with the last dates in Dublin, Ireland.

December. After yet another appearance on TV show "Saturday Night Live", they begin their tour of Australia and Indonesia.

1996 - January. Whilst on tour they film the video for "Big Me" in Sydney, Australia. The video includes a parody of a "Mentos" TV commercial advertisement, and the band would rue the day they ever decided to include it. Performing the song live at later gigs, the band would be pelted with mentos as a matter of tradition, every time they included it, whether it be in reverence, or insult, or just fanzine affiliation. At the end of the month the mini tour ends with last dates in Hong Kong. Then they are back recording four new songs including "Butterflies", "I'm Alone Again", and "My Hero". They also take time to record the song "Down in the Park", which would appear for and episode on the "X-Files" TV show soundtrack.

March. They begin touring again in Spring, starting in Denver, Colorado. They release single "Big Me" from their debut album.

April. They appear in store at Virgin NY. June. They play for "Tibetan Freedom", a concert in San Francisco, CA. The following month they finish touring with their last date at Stratford Upon Avon.

November. The Foo Fighters win "Best Group Video" at MTV's Video Music Awards for "Big Me".

1997 - January. The band appear live with David Bowie for his birthday party at 'Madison Square garden", NY.

March. Taylor Hawkins, (former Alanis Morrisette), joins as new drummer and replaces William Goldsmith.

April. "Monkey Wrench" is released as new single exclusively in the UK. The following month the band appear live at MTV studios, London. They release their second album entitled "The Colour and the shape" in the UK. Produced by Gil Norton and released on Capitol/Roswell Records.

May. The new album is released in the US. and after an appearance once more on David Letterman, they begin an extensive tour of the US, UK and Europe. They appear on BBC TV show "Later with Jools Holland" and perform new songs, "Monkey Wrench" and new single "Everlong".

June. They now appear on the 'Jay Leno show' back home in CA.

August. Touring finishes in Seattle, WA. The following month fellow Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear quits the band and is replaced by Franz Stahl.

September. The Foo's set out on a world tour, with dates supporting "The Rolling Stones". They finish the year with TV appearances back in London, UK. Roger Taylor, ("Queen"), also makes a guest appearance with them live on stage playing Queen hit, "Sheer Heart attack".

1998 - January. "My Hero" is released as single. February, and the tour finally ends with last dates in New Zealand.

April. After various celebrity and TV spots, the band begin their mini US tour at Lake Tahoe, CA.
May. They appear again on Dave Letterman playing "Walking after you", which is released as the next single. They also feature on the Godzilla movie soundtrack with the song "A320". The US tour ends in Denver, CO.
June. They again feature on the big screen, this time it's the X-Files movie soundtrack, with a re-recorded version of "Walking after you". They appear at the "Ozzfest" in Milton Keynes, UK. and also join the "Edgefest" tour of Canada, (the show is later shown on HBO's "Reverb").

August. They are back in the UK, appearing on BBC's "Top of the pops". They play a secret gig in London, before they travel to Reading, UK. for the "Reading festival".

December. "My Hero" features on the Varsity Blues Movie Soundtrack.

1999 - The year does not start well with Franz Stahl deciding to quit the band. He is replaced on guitar by Chris Shiflett. Not until March do they appear live, with a secret gig at the 'Troubador' in LA. performing under the pseudonym "Stacked actors", (a track soon to feature on their next album).

August. After taking time out to write for their next album, they appear at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, RI. Here they debut new song "Gimme stitches". They play more secret gigs at the 'Horseshoe Tavern' in Toronto, Canada, and the 'Bowery Ballroom' in New York City.

October. "Learn To Fly" is released as the new single from the forthcoming album, with the video featuring appearances by Jack Black and Kyle Gass, ("Tenacious D"). The single is an instant hit with extensive promotion across MTV and VH1 music video channels.

November. The Foo Fighters third album, "There is nothing left to loose" is released on RCA/Roswell records. The album is their finest yet, and features tracks, "Stacked Actors", "Breakout", their new single "Learn To Fly" and "Gimme Stitches". The excellent song "Aurora" and "Ain't It The Life". The album is produced by Adam Kasper, and mastered by Bob Ludwig. The enhanced CD also features the "Learn to fly" video on Quicktime. (The first copies of the enchanced version also included a temporary tattoo, as per the album cover).

The Foo Fighters appear live for a gig at the HMV record store in New York City, which is also webcast live on the internet. They appear once more on Saturday Night Live, this time performing new single "Learn To Fly" and "Stacked Actors". They travel to London where Brian May and Roger Taylor from "Queen", join them live on stage to play Queen hit "Now I'm Here". They return back home for yet another TV spot with their favourite host David Letterman, playing "Learn to Fly" and "Breakout".

December. the band begin a mini tour playing Christmas Radio shows all over the US. In Seattle. WA. Nate Mendel falls ill, and the band still perform with band members swapping parts, Chris Stiflett playing bass. They are also joined on stage by Justin Medal-Johnson, ("Beck"), and Krist Novoselic.
Pat Smear re-appears to guest on-stage in Los Angeles, playing guitar on "Stacked Actors".
By the end of December "Nothing left to loose" is certified Platinum by the RIAA ! (sold a million copies). The band celebrate Christmas with a bottle, (or two), of champagne.

2000 - January. The band appear again on TV talk show Jay Leno, playing "Learn to Fly" and "Stacked actors". At the end of the month they embark on their tour of Australia.

February. Their tour ends, and they are invited back yet again by David Letterman who personally requests they play "Everlong". Letterman introduces them as his favourite band playing "my favourite song", (Awh....Jay Leno eat your heart).

March. "Generator" is released as the new single. After various acoustical performances the Foo's tour and open for "Red Hot Chilli Peppers".

August. After many TV spots and appearances, (including Letterman and Leno again ! geeezz you guys just can't get enough), they join the "Summersault" tour of Canada. "Breakout" is released as the new single.

October. Dave Grohl appears on former "Black Sabbath" guitarist, Tony Iommi's solo album. He sings and plays drums on the track "Goodbye Lament". After yet another appearance on Letterman, (Yawn!), the Foo Fighters start a headlining tour of the US with the "Queens of the Stone Age".

December. Their US tour ends and they finish the year with several dates back in UK.

2001 - January. The Foo Fighter's receive a late Xmas present - 3 Grammy nominations. "There is Nothing Left to Lose", nominated for 'Best Rock Album', the video "Learn To Fly" is nominated for 'Best Short Form Music Video', and single "Learn to Fly" nominated for 'Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal'. The awards ceremony is set for February next month.

February. Dave Grohl is presented with the "Gibson Guitar Award for Best Rock Guitarist Male". The Foo's win two of their Grammy nominations, 'Best Rock album' and 'Best Short Form Music Video' for "Learn to Fly".

August. The Foo Fighters play a special one night at the 'Troubador' in LA. But later Taylor Hawkins falls ill and enters hospital, leading to the cancellation of European festival dates.

December. The Foo's finish the year with a video release "The One" for the soundtrack of "Orange County".

2002 - The band play a MAP benefit concert in LA, before appearing for the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake city. Dave Grohl is also inducted into the Washington 'Hall of Fame'. April. Dave Grohl features on the "Tenacious D", (Jack Black and Kyle Gass ), album track "A Shiny Demon". In June he joins "Queens of the Stone Age" as drummer on their World tour.

August - The Foo Fighters travel to Bakersfield, CA. to shoot the video for "All My Life", to feature for their new forthcoming album. After a brief stop to collect another 'Hall of Fame' award from "Kerrang!" rock magazine in London, they embark on a mini tour of UK, France, Germany, Japan, and Australia.

October - The single "All My Life" is released, followed shortly after by their fourth studio album "One By One". Tracks on the new album include the recent single release, as well as "Low", "Have it all", "Times like these", "Tired of You" and "Comeback". Produced with Nick Raskulinecz and released on RCA/BMG/Roswell records.

2003 - After filming their second video "Times Like These" in Los Angeles, CA. They are back on TV again, this time a return to "Saturday Night Live", and then another appearance for old time buddy Letterman. The Foo Fighters receive a Grammy for "Best hard rock song", ("All of My Life").

March/April - The band members take time out to pursue different projects. Dave Grohl features as drummer for the Killing Joke album "Axis Of Evil". Nate Mendel tours with side project "The Fire Theft". Chris Shiflett appears with his band "Jackson" in LA. The Foo's appear on 'Jay Leno' once more performing, "It's times like these".

May/June - Foo Fighters release the single "Low" in Australia and UK. Included are the b-sides "Never Talking To You Again" (Live), "Enough Space" (Live), "Low" (Video), and CD-ROM bonus materials. August - They receive two more 'Kerrang!' awards in London for 'Best Single', ("All My Life") and 'Best Video', ("Low").

November - They release their first DVD, "Everywhere But Home", which includes two full concerts plus hidden extras. December - The Foo Fighters appear at the 'Billboard Music Awards' held in Las Vegas, NV. They play "All My Life". The next day their "One by One" album is certified Platinum by RIAA.

2004 - February. The Foo Fighters win a Grammy second year in a row for "Best Rock Album", ("One by One"). They appear at the Grammy Awards and perform a version of "Times Like These" with Jazz virtuoso Chick Corea on piano. March. Dave Grohl releases his rock/metal side project "Probot". Nate Mendel becomes a father with the birth of his first son.

July/August. Dave Grohl decides to support the "John Kerry for President campaign", performing an acoustic show at the 'Henry Fonda Theatre' in Hollywood, CA. The boys from "Tenacious D" also lend their support to the cause. The campaign support continues through August with Dave contributing "Gas Chamber" to the "Rock Against Bush Volume II" compilation, released on Fat Wreck Chords. He also takes time out to feature on the new "Nine Inch Nails" album.

September - The band re-enter the studio to write for their next album.

2005 - January. Dave Grohl appears for support of the Tsunami victims in South East Asia. He performs an acoustic set and plays a new song called "Razor Of Mine". He also plays with Josh Homme, ("Queens of the Stone Age"). They play "I Never Came".

April - The first single, "Best Of You", from the forthcoming album, "In Your Honour" is released for download on Apple's 'iTunes' music store. They film their video for release with the single.

June - They perform at the MTV awards playing the new single, and then appear the same night on 'Jay Leno' once more. Two days later, MTV2 broadcast "24 Hours of Foo" with the band on the air for 24 consecutive hours to play their favourite videos, and live sets. This really highlights the Foo Fighter's mastery and unfading connection with TV spots and Music cable channels and promotion.
Three more days on and "One By One" is officially released on RCA/BMG records. Again produced with Nick Raskulinecz, this double album features CD1 in full 'Foo-on' mode with rockers, "Best of you", "DOA", and also "Free me", "Resolve", and "The Deepest Blues are Black". CD2 follows in acoustic style with tracks "What if I do?", the excellent "Miracle", and featuring Norah Jones on trad jazz duet "Virginia Moon". Josh Homme also features on guitar for last track, "Razor".

The Foo Fighters perform at the site of the former Walker Air Force Base, in Roswell, New Mexico, (home to the World's most infamous UFO incident). They play a very special private concert for a few hundred lucky fans. An ironic metaphor with the release of "in your honour", perhaps?

August - They travel to London for a surprise gig at 'The Astoria', London.

2006 - February. The Foo Fighters are nominated for 5 Grammy awards for the 48th annual ceremony, but are beaten hands down by fellow rock meisters "U2", who take home every last one!

March. The Taylor Hawkins project "Coattail Riders" releases their first album on Trive Records. June. The Foo Fighters appear at the 'Hyde Park' Summer concert in London. This is their largest show to date, performing in front of 60,000 fans. "Motorhead" and "Queens Of The Stone Age" also appeared.

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