FOO FIGHTERS got their name from the term used by the Allied aircraft pilots in World War II to describe UFOs and other aerial anomalies. The band started as the one-man project of Dave Grohl, the former drummer of Nirvana, in 1994. Grohl wrote and recorded the entire first album by himself, and titled it Foo Fighters (1995).
Their next album, The Colour and the Shape, which was released in 1997, was produced by Gil Norton and included Pat Smear on guitar, Nate Mendel on bass, and William Goldsmith on drums. However, Goldsmith quit during the recording of the second album, and Grohl re-recorded the drum parts himself. Shortly after, Pat Smear left the band. The two lost members were replaced by Taylor Hawkins on drums and Franz Stahl on guitar. Unfortunately, Stahl was fired before the band recorded their next album. There Is Nothing Left to Lose was released in 1999 with the band as a trio.
Not long after that release, Chris Shiflett joined the band and played lead guitar on their next release, One By One (2002). The Foo Fighters had the same lineup for their next album, In Your Honor, released in 2005. In that year the Foo Fighters went on tour with Weezer, calling it the Foozer Tour. In Your Honor has two discs; one with more upbeat rock and another with acoustic songs. They again had the same lineup for their subsequent release, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007). Gil Norton also produced this album, which was nominated for five Grammys in 2008.
Smear had went on tour with the band from 2006 to 2009, and in 2010 he officially rejoined. Their latest album, Wasting Light (2011) was recorded in Dave Grohl’s garage using only analog equipment. Butch Vig was the producer and the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Since then, the Foo Fighters have been on tour and plan on continuing to do so.
