I love music so much, so much that I listen to almost every genre, except country. I listen to it a bit but not too much. But, I have always had a guitar drum sized hole in my heart for alternative rock. There is a certain band that I have listened to for awhile, but have gotten into more as of late, and that band happens to be, The Foo Fighters. On Evolution, we love to play the Foo Fighters!

The band was formed in Seattle all the way back in 1994 by former Nirvana member, David Grohl and the band was originally just him but he now carries on through as a lead vocalist as well as a guitarist. Grohl has been in the music game ever since he was 17 and started out as a drummer for the punk rock band ‘Scream’ and eventually became the drummer for the famous band Nirvana after scream had disbanded back in 1990. Nirvana has made instant classics but it was not until 1994 when the late great Kurt Cobain passed away, in 1994. Nirvana would later disband and that led Grohl to go into a deep depression and ended up going into isolation for several months and ending up leaving Seattle entirely.

“I was still in Seattle, and I just felt, ‘I gotta get out.’ I [had to] go somewhere where I could just disappear and sort through my life, and try to figure out what to do next… I was winding around these country roads – so beautiful – and I was finding peace… and I came upon this hitchhiker, and I was considering picking him up, and I saw that he had a Kurt Cobain T-shirt. And to me that meant ‘You can’t outrun this thing, so it’s time … to push through and find some sort of continuation.’ So I flew home and I immediately started recording those Foo Fighter songs.” said Grohl

While Grohl was in the band Nirvana, at times he would write his own songs on his own time and practice them. He would take his guitar alongside his pen and paper and get creative, but was always too shy to share them with lead singer Kurt Cobain and the group, as he always left in awe with Cobain’s songwriting and singer abilities. Grohl would actually book studio time to record covers and demos and would eventually release the album full of demos under an alias name in 1992. 

When the band Nirvana had sadly been put to the past, you might have wondered what would be next for Grohl, and I think he was wondering too. He was aware of his music and songwriting abilities, so he knew that many bands would be interested in him. You may not know this or even believe it but it was rumoured that he was offered a spot in the band Pearl Jam and he was also very close to accepting the position for drummer in the band Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. Grohl commented on the opportunity by saying he was supposed to join the other band but it did not work out. He would go on to do what he said “nobody expected (him) to do” and that was going on to sign with a record company and work on 15 songs. He would play every instrument involved in each song and was obviously the lead vocalist as well. Grohl was so dedicated that he ended up finishing an album’s worth of material in only five days, can you even believe that? Wow.

When Grohl was solo under the name Foo Fighters, he hoped to remain anonymous and release his productions in a limited manner. You may be wondering how he even ended up choosing the name Foo Fighters, and it was actually a term that was used back in World War Two as a term for ‘unidentified flying objects’ which I find pretty interesting. Band names are always so interesting with a fascinating name chosen behind them, and who would have thought that the Foo Fighters would have been a term from the War! Well, unless you were involved with the war to hear the word often, then you would know it but other than that, it is a great name in my opinion but Grohl said that “it was the stupidest f*cking name ever”. 

Grohl would go into his recruitment phase when it was time to tour and he thought the band could use a few members to join the Foo Fighters. He would go on to recruit bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith who are both from Seattle as well, and were formerly a part of a band known as Sunny Day Real Estate. If you are wondering if anyone else from Nirvana jumped ship over to join Grohl and the Foo Fighters, you would be right because touring guitarist Pat Smear would hop on over and join Grohl as the second guitarist in the band.

In 1997, is when the famous and one of the band’s most notable members, Taylor Hawkins would join the crew after William Goldsmith’s departure. Hawkins was already part of another band that Grohl thought was bigger than the Foo Fighters, as he was a part of Morissettes touring band. If you guessed that Grohl was wrong, you would be right as Hawkins would volunteer to join the band himself after Grohl ringed him up, looking for potential candidates to be their drummer. Hawkins has dreamed of being a part of a rock band and not just a solo act, so this was an easy yes for him as you would imagine. Hawkins’ voice has been used for all different soundscapes, as he was the lead vocal on a cover of one of the greats, Pink Floyd’s songs, as well as the song being featured on the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack.

Taylor Hawkins was so dedicated to the rock band that even when Guns N’ Roses called him to be their drummer, you already know that he turned down the offer but still had some consideration. Hawkins had his fair share of ups and downs though, as back in 2001 he had overdosed on heroin, which left him suffering a coma for over two weeks. On March 25th, 2022, Hawkins was ready to play a show but would later on complain of chest pain. Emergency services would go on to visit him in his room, but would sadly find the famous drummer unresponsive. Colombian authorities would go on to test what was in his system and it was a lot. He had ten substances in his body at the time of death, including opioids, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and THC. If you love rock, then this was a sad day for all. In 2023, his son Shane would take the stage with the band, behind the drums, and play at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert. You need to see it.

The Foo Fighters have had great success and would go on to release eleven studio albums during the time, and their time is still now as their last release was in 2022 but they are currently on tour. The Foo Fighters have won a whopping total of fifteen grammy awards with five of them being best rock album of the year, classifying them as one of the best rock groups in history. The band was also announced as the first ever recipients of the Global Icon Award at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. If this entices you to check out their music then please do! You really can’t go wrong with the Foo Fighters.