Madison Morris, Campus Carrier photographer
One of the most influential bands to date began in 1994 through the collaboration of several talented artists, many of whom already belonged to other bands. Foo Fighters was founded in Seattle, Washington, by former Nirvana drummer, Dave Grohl, following the suicide of Kurt Cobain. It originated as a one-man project, but soon became one of the most well-known rock groups. Foo Fighters includes talented members Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear. The name “foo fighters” refers to UFOs reportedly seen by Allied aircraft pilots during World War II.
They have released nine albums to date, their first being their self-titled album, Foo Fighters, and their latest album, “Concrete and Gold”, which was released on September 15, 2017. The band’s second album, “The Colour And The Shape”, became their first to enter the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. Their hit, “Learn To Fly” reached number 19 in the Billboard Hot 100. Their eighth album, “Sonic Highways”, was released in 2014 alongside Grohl’s documentary miniseries under the same title, where each of the eight episodes highlights the making of a song as the band travels to a different recording studio across America to gain insight into the historical and musical background of that city. They then incorporated quotes from interviews and sounds significant to that city. “Concrete and Gold” became the band’s second album to reach number one in the United States.
The band currently holds the GRAMMY record for most wins in the Best Rock Album category and have a total of 11 wins and 27 nominations as of the 61 GRAMMY Awards on February 10.
Their unique sound incorporates alternating heavy rock and soft acoustic tones and their song variety covers genres, such as hard rock, alternative rock, grunge, and post-grunge. Foo Fighters’ most well-known songs include “All My Life”, “Learn to Fly”, “Best of You”, “The Pretender” and their fan favorite, “Everlong”.
I highly recommend that you give Foo Fighters a listen because the band is incredibly talented and diverse in style and sound. I also strongly believe that they appeal to a wide audience of many different ages and music tastes as they have continued to make hits for over two decades.