Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters for some time was the studio project of Nirvana's former drummer Dave Grohl. Actually, Grohl started writing songs a long time before Cobain's death (1994). But he remembered well an old musical joke: "A: - What did the drummer say just before he was fired? B: - He said: "Hey guys, lets play one of my songs!" He also realised that every joke was founded on facts. So Grohl wrote songs without showing them to Nirvana members. Soon after he was free Grohl recorded a number of demos and decided that first of all he needed a band for the project. He refused of Novoselic's candidacy at once because of Nirvana's powerful glory. But the artist was lucky - he heard that a group Sunny Day Real Estate was disbanded and two of their former members agreed to cooperate with him - bass player Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith. Soon the unofficial Nirvana second guitarist Pat Smear finished the picture. This line-up recorded the eponymous debut album in 1995 after the tour. Their energetic and emotional Rock songs This Is A Call, I'll Stick Around, For All The Cows and Big Me cought the eye of wide audience. Though it was only the beginning of the band career.

In the spring of 1996 Foo Fighters got down to recording their second disc. But Goldsmith left the band and a great amount of the material was rerecorded with Grohl on drums. Though The Colour And The Shape saw light in May 1997. Foo Fighters' leader asked Alanis Morissette's touring drummer Taylor Hawkins if he knows any good percussionist, and to Grohl's astonishment and releaf Hawkins said that he was that very guy. But personel problems continued in September 1997 - this time the band was left by Pat Smear, who was replaced at once by Grohl's former bandmate Franz Stahl. In 1999 Foo Fighters recorded their next work, There Is Nothing Left To Lose. It got the Grammy for The Best Rock Album Of The Year. In 2001 Foo Fighters got noticed for their cooperation with Queen. They also contributed to the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack. In 2002 the success was followed by One By One with the second Grammy in the same nomination. This work differed from the previous by rougher tendencies Dave borrowed from the Queens Of The Stone Age while helping them to record their Songs For The Deaf creation. Grohl's racy riffs and strong vocals could be heard all over the world.

The same time Foo Fighters took an active part in social life. In 2000 the band was known for their wide public support of Alive & Well, organization that contradicts all international wisdoms about AIDS and HIV. The band even played a benefit concert for the Alive & Well members. In 2004 they stepped into the political territory. Grohl and his bandmates helped John Kerry in his electional campaing against George W. Bush. This risky work became the inspiration for their fifth album title - In Your Honour (2005). In order to record this monumental double-disk Foo Fighters had to built their own studio 606 West. One part of In Your Honour consisted of Rock songs while the other had beatiful acoustic tracks. During the support tour guitarist Pat Smear rejoined the band. In November 2006 the tour resulted in a wonderful live record Skin And Bones. In 2007 Foo Fighters released Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, their most diverse work ever. The Pretender, the powerful first single, at once showed that the album was going to be big. In 2009 the rockers pleased their fans by a strong compilation album Greatest Hits. Besides the band’s best works, including The Pretender, Long Road To Ruin and many other hits, two new songs Wheels and Word Forward were presented. There is no doubt that Greatest Hits proved to be a great addition to music lovers’ collections all around the world.