andPOP » Foo Fighters

Dave Grohl Admires His Led Zeppelin Band Member

Sara Harowitz — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:50:47 +0000

Dave Grohl is admired by many. The Nirvana drummer, turned Foo Fighters lead singer, and most recently, Them Crooked Vultures drummer, has had quite the music career. Still, he has his idols too. And one of them is in his new band.

Playing with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones in his new super-group Them Crooked Vultures is a dream come true for Grohl, reports rollingstone.com.

Grohl’s Led Zeppelin love goes all the way back to when he was just a teenager. He’s got three Led Zeppelin-inspired tattoos – the John Bonham three-circle Led Zeppelin IV logo in three places – the first of which he did himself when he was just a teen.

“I did the first one myself when I was 16,” said Grohl. “I tried to get different coloured ink to make it seem pro, but now it looks like someone put a cigarette out on my fucking arm.”

The second tattoo was a bit more professional: he had it done at an illegal squat in Amsterdam.

“It was done by an Italian guy named Andrea whose tattoo gun was made out of a doorbell machine,” he said. “When my mother saw it, she was like, ‘David!’ I was like, ‘Mom, I’ve done a lot worse shit than this, believe me. Look at my other arm.’”

And Grohl paid for his third and final Led Zeppelin tattoo with his first cheque, $400 U.S., from being in Nirvana.

“Kurt and I were living with each other in Olympia,” he said. “The place was so depressing.”

“I took the $400 and bought a Nintendo, a BB gun – mind you, I was 21, not 12 – and got that tattoo,” Grohl continued. “One of my fondest memories of living in that rat-shit-hole apartment was buying a dozen eggs at the A&P, bringing them to Kurt’s backyard, and me and Kurt and Buzz [Osbourne] from the Melvins shooting at the eggs. Those were the days.”

Grohl says that playing with Them Crooked Vultures is like “being in the most incredible luxury car, driving on the Autobahn, flying by the seat of my pants.”

Their self-titled debut album is now out.

Foo Fighters, Coldplay To Perform At Neil Diamond Charity Tribute

Eva Lam — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:37:56 +0000

Foo Fighters, Coldplay and Jennifer Hudson are among the artists who will perform at a gala ceremony honouring Neil Diamond in February.

Diamond, who was named 2008’s MusiCares Person of the Year, will also perform at the charity event taking place Feb. 6 at Los Angeles’ Convention Center.

The singer is being feted for his well-documented charitable work, which recently included donations to efforts like hurricane relief following Texas’ Hurricane Ike.

He joins such past honourees as Bono, Paul Simon, Sting and Aretha Franklin.

Additional performers in the ceremony’s lineup include Adele, Tim McGraw, Josh Groban and Raul Malo.

The event will also feature a silent auction, with celebrity memorabilia put up for grabs during an online auction.

Proceeds from the gala will benefit the MusiCares program, which helps musicians during times of financial, medical and personal need.

Foo Fighters Tell McCain Campaign To Stop Using Song

Eva Lam — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:36:15 +0000

The Foo Fighters are the latest music act to blast John McCain for using their song.

The rockers said they learned through news reports that their hit “My Hero” was being used at rallies for the Republican presidential candidate and have asked his campaign to stop using the track.

“It’s frustrating and infuriating that someone who claims to speak for the American people would repeatedly show such little respect for creativity and intellectual property,” the band said in a statement. “This isn’t the first time the McCain campaign has used a song without making any attempt to get approval or permission from the artist.”

Other artists who have complained about the McCain campaign’s use of their tunes are John Mellencamp, Heart and Jackson Browne, with the latter even filing a lawsuit.

“The saddest thing about this is that `My Hero’ was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential,” the Foos continued. “To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.”

The Republicans have hit back, saying they paid for licenses from performing rights organizations and therefore have permission to play millions of different songs, including “My Hero.”

Surprise Guests Rock Foo Fighters Show

Eva Lam — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:35:47 +0000

The Foo Fighters were joined onstage by two rock legends during their show in London Friday.

Week-long rumours were confirmed when Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones appeared during the encore of the Foos’ second night at Wembley Stadium.

The two Brits joined the U.S. band in performing the Zeppelin classics “Rock and Roll” and “Ramble On,” with the former song seeing Foos singer Dave Grohl return to the drumkit and Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins taking over lead vocals.

The night was capped off by a big fireworks display.

The special show marked the first time members of Led Zeppelin have reunited onstage since the band played a one-off gig at London’s O2 Arena last December.

Led Zeppelin, who rank No.1 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock,” reached the height of its popularity in the ’70s and has sold more than 300 million albums worldwide.

Foo Fighters, U2 Get Country-fied

Eva Lam — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:08:20 +0000

Country musician Glen Campbell is going over to the rock side on his new album, which features the 72-year-old singer/guitarist covering hits from the likes of the Foo Fighters, U2, Green Day and Travis.

“Meet Glen Campbell,” due in stores August 19, will see the country legend reaching out to a new generation of fans by putting his own spin on both older and contemporary tunes.

“I really like all of the songs and I had a great time recording them,” Campbell said in a statement. “While I didn’t write these songs, this sounds like a Glen Campbell album, which is important to me.”

Among the songs Campbell covers are the Foos’ “Times Like These,” U2’s “All I Want Is You,” Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)” and Travis’ “Sing.”

Campbell’s career spans more than five decades and boasts five Grammy wins. He also hosted a TV variety show called “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour,” which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1972.

Here are the songs that will be on the album:

1. Jesus (Velvet Underground)
2. All I Want Is You (U2)
3. Times Like These (Foo Fighters)
4. Grow Old With Me (John Lennon)
5. Angel Dream (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
6. Sadly Beautiful (The Replacements)
7. Sing (Travis)
8. These Days (Jackson Browne)
9. Walls (Circus) (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
10. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) (Green Day)

Hawkins Stunned By Prince Tribute

andPOP Staff — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 01:04:35 +0000

FOO FIGHTERS star TAYLOR HAWKINS is still scratching his head after watching PRINCE cover the group’s BEST OF ME during his Super Bowl halftime performance – he thought the pop superstar hated the rockers.

The rockers recorded a cover of Prince’s DARLING NICKY in 2004 and asked the PURPLE RAIN hitmaker for permission to release the track, prompting the reclusive star to rage at them.

Drummer Hawkins recalls, “We wanted to put it out here in the States, but Prince wouldn’t let us. I heard that he didn’t like our version. Or maybe he just didn’t like us doing it.”

Prince then publicly blasted the Foo Fighters urging them to write their own songs, so Hawkins was bemused when the superstar performed Best Of Me at the Super Bowl in Miami, Florida on Sunday.

Hawkins tells MTV News, “I have no idea why he did it, but I’d love to find out… The thought went through my head that maybe he was doing it as a sort of ‘F**k you’ to us, or maybe he really likes the song.

“Either way, it was pretty amazing to have a guy like Prince covering one of our songs – and actually doing it better than we did.

“I was watching the game at our producer’s house. I mean, I’m outside smoking a cigarette and someone sticks their head outside and goes, ‘Uh, dude, Prince is doing your song.’”

Foo Fighters’ Live Record Track List Revealed

andPOP Staff — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 14:55:48 +0000

The Foo Fighters’ upcoming live album, “Skin and Bones,” will feature cuts from the band’s recent acoustic tour, reports Billboard.com.

The 15-track record is culled specifically from three performances taped in August at Los Angeles’ Pantages Theater.

The disc is set for release Nov. 7, with a DVD from the shows, featuring to be announced bonus songs and extra features, to come later that month.

In addition to the band’s biggest hits and fan favourites, “Skin and Bones” will also contain a performance of Nirvana B-side “Marigold,” written by Dave Grohl. The song had never been performed by the band before this tour.

“Skin and Bones” CD track list:

“Razor”
“Over & Out”
“Walking After You”
“Marigold”
“My Hero”
“Next Year”
“Another Round”
“Big Me”
“Cold Day in the Sun”
“Skin and Bones”
“February Stars”
“Times Like These”
“Friend of a Friend”
“Best of You”
“Everlong”

Shhh … Foo Fighters to Play Toronto

andPOP Staff — Wed, 17 May 2006 12:54:05 +0000

It hasn’t actually been announced yet, but it looks as though Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters will hit Toronto’s Hummingbird Centre on August 23.

The official list of tour dates released Wednesday didn?t include a Toronto stop, but the show appeared briefly on Ticketmaster’s web site late Tuesday night before swiftly being removed. Tickets were shown to go on sale May 26 at 10 a.m.

The tour will be all-acoustic, in support of the second disc from the Foo Fighter’s latest album, “In Your Honor” (rock versions of the songs appeared on disc one of the record). Several additional musicians will join the band on stage, including former Foo Fighter guitarist Pat Smear and That Dog?s Petra Haden on violin.

Timmy Curran will open on the tour?s July dates, while Pixies? Frank Black holds the support slot in August (presumably including the Toronto show).

The official list of dates (so far) from the Foo Fighter’s web site:

July 11 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theater
July 13 – Berkeley, CA @ Berkeley Community Theater
July 17 – San Diego, CA @ San Diego Civic Theater
August 16 – Philadelphia, PA @ Tower Theater
August 21 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theater
August 22 – Boston, MA @ Wang Theater
August 25 – Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theater

Foo Fighters/Weezer Tour Confirmed

andPOP Staff — Sun, 17 Jul 2005 17:20:13 +0000

After much speculation, it has been confirmed that Weezer and the Foo Fighters will co-headline in an arena tour this September.

On Friday, it was announced which cities the tour would be hitting, but other important details, such as dates, venues and ticket prices, were left unmentioned.

The cities, in the order they’re listed in the press release, are as follows: Atlanta; Sunrise, Florida; Tampa, Florida; Houston; Austin, Texas; Dallas; San Diego; Phoenix; Denver; Minneapolis; Chicago; Champaign, Illinois; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Detroit; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Baltimore; Worcester, Massachusetts; New York; Philadelphia; Fresno, California; Seattle; and Portland, Oregon.

More cities are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

The Kaiser Chiefs have been confirmed as an opening act for the first leg of the tour, from September 29 to October 11.

According to management reps for both bands, the tour will end its run in late October.