Foo Fighters

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Foo Fighters

Named after the alleged World War II secret group that had researched about the mysterious appearances of what then was called UFO's, Foo Fighters is an Alternative Pop-Rock band that became popular in the mid-90's with breakout hit songs like "This Is A Call","Big Me" and had a number of great albums to follow their first release.

[edit] About

Officially formed in 1995, Foo Fighters an american Alternative Pop-Rock band that adopted their name from the World War II secret force allegedly studying UFO's.

Dave Grohl, unquestionably the nucleus of this post-grunge band, started to write and play the guitar when he was still a teener. With an exceptional talent to mark, he also played the drum in the 1980's in a hardcore punk band Scream. He recorded his own songs in the basement of friend Barrett Jones, soon enough, his own material became a part of Fumble, Scream's final album.

By 1990, Grohl moves to Seattle and joins ever-popular Nirvana where he played the drums. Grohl recorded Nevermind with Nirvana and after which he records his solo materials that became part of Simple Machines' Pocketwatch. Early in the 90's the Grohl-Jones duo kept on recording tapes and solo materials at the basement studio. Grohl had the idea of releasing his record out of the materials he recorded before. After being quiet for sometime following the death of Kurt Cobain, the duo created a 15-track professionally recorded album where Grohl played all the instruments and sold a hundred copies to friends and associates. The record drove big record companies to bid for the said album.

With the success of the 100-piece record, Grohl finds bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith of Sunny Day Real Estate and fuses the two with former Germs and Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear. With that kind of a roundup, Foo Fighters was born, and signed a contract with Capitol Records.

By July 1995, their self-titled album was out in the market with "This Is A Call" conquering the airwaves and receiving a Platinum Certification in the US.

While recording the band's second album, conflict arises between Grohl and Goldsmith leading to the departure of Goldsmith. Grohl sits on the drums and thus follow-up album The Colour And The Shape gets its release in May 1997. The band finds a replacement for Goldsmith in the person of Taylor Hawkins, Alanis Morissette's touring drummer.

Later that year, Pat Smear leaves the band and introduced his replacement Franz Stahl, Grohl's former bandmate from Scream. Before the recording of the band's third album, Stahl decides to leave the band citing no specific reason aside from creative differences. Chris Shiflett officially became part of the band as they record There Is Nothing Left To Lose which was released under RCA Records.

A stable band lineup equals better projects for the band. The band continues to produce great albums and shows that their fans would never want to miss.

In 2005, the band released their fifth and most recent album In Your Honor which received fairly positive responses from critics and fans as well. It can be noted that the songs were very similar to the original recording but even better.

During summer of 2006, the band held a short acoustic tour behind their latest album and reunites with Pat Smear and other extra performers including The Wallflowers' Rami Jaffee.

Just this November 2006, the band released a live CD entitled Skin And Bones featuring songs from their performances in Los Angeles. A 2-disc DVD will soon be out in the market later in the month.

[edit] Band Lineup

Present Members

Dave Grohl On vocals, guitar

Taylor Hawkins On drums, percussion, vocals (1997–present)

Nate Mendel On bass guitar

Chris Shiflett On guitar, backing vocals (1999–present)

Former members

William Goldsmith On drums, percussion (1995–1997)

Pat Smear On guitar (1995–1997)

Franz Stahl On guitar (1997–1999)

[edit] Awards & Certifications

[edit] Certifications

Year	Album	UK	US
1995	Foo Fighters (album)	Gold	Platinum
1997	The Colour And The Shape	Gold	2x Platinum
1999	There Is Nothing Left To Lose	Gold	Platinum
2002	One By One	Platinum	Platinum
2005	In Your Honor	2x Platinum	Platinum

[edit] Chart Toppers

Year	Song	Chart positions				Album
Year	Song	US Hot 100	US Modern Rock	US Main- stream Rock	UK singles	Album
1995	"This Is a Call"	-	2	6	5	Foo Fighters
1996	"I'll Stick Around"	-	8	12	18	Foo Fighters
	"For All the Cows"	-	-	-	28	Foo Fighters
	"Big Me"	-	3	18	19	Foo Fighters
1997	"Monkey Wrench"	-	9	9	12	The Colour and the Shape
1998	"Everlong"	-	3	4	18	The Colour and the Shape
	"My Hero"	-	6	8	21	The Colour and the Shape
	"Walking After You"	-	12	-	20	The X Files
1999	"Learn to Fly"	13	1	2	21	There Is Nothing Left to Lose
2000	"Stacked Actors"	-	25	9	-	There Is Nothing Left to Lose
	"Generator"	-	-	-	-	There Is Nothing Left to Lose
	"Breakout"	-	8	11	29	There Is Nothing Left to Lose
	"Next Year"	-	17	-	42	There Is Nothing Left to Lose
2002	"The One"	-	14	20	-	Orange County soundtrack
2002	"All My Life"	43	1	3	5	One by One
2003	"Times Like These"	65	5	5	12	One by One
	"Low"	-	15	23	21	One by One
	"Have It All"	-	-	-	37	One by One
2005	"Best of You"	18	1	1	4	In Your Honor
	"DOA"	68	1	5	25	In Your Honor
	"Resolve"	-	-	39	32	In Your Honor
2006	"No Way Back"	-	2	6	64	In Your Honor
2006	"Miracle"	-	-	-	-	In Your Honor

[edit] News

[edit] Tours & Concerts

[edit] Discography

Foo Fighters July 4,1995 Capitol Records	The Colour and the Shape May 20,1997 Capitol Records	There Is Nothing Left to Lose November 2,1999 RCA Records	One by One October 22, 2002 RCA Records
In Your Honor June 14, 2005 RCA Records	Skin and Bones November 7,2006 RCA Records