Foo Fighters are an American alternative rock band formed by singer/guitarist Dave Grohl in 1995, initially as a one man project after the dissolution of his previous band Nirvana in 1994. A multi instrumentalist, Grohl fulfilled drumming duties for Nirvana, but during tours, he took a guitar with him and wrote songs. However, he held these songs back from the band, reasoning “I was in awe of [frontman Kurt Cobain's] songs. And intimidated. I thought it was best that I keep my songs to myself." Instead, Grohl occasionally booked studio time to record demos, and even issued a cassette of some of the songs called “Pocketwatch” under the pseudonym "Late!" in 1992.

After Cobain’s death and the subsequent end of Nirvana in 1994, a devastated Grohl considered entering college, getting a regular job, and even giving up music altogether. He received offers to work with various artists, and almost accepted a permanent position as the drummer in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. However he declined and entered a studio in October 1994 to record 12 of the 40 songs he had written, completing an album’s worth of material in 5 days, playing every instrument and singing every vocal on the tracks (with the exception of a guitar part on "X-Static" by Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs). Grohl hoped to keep his anonymity and release the recordings in a limited run under the title "Foo Fighters" (taken from the World War II term "foo fighter", used to refer to unidentified flying objects), but the demo tape circulated in the music industry, creating interest among record labels. Grohl formed a band to support the album - having heard about the disbanding of Seattle based emo band Sunny Day Real Estate, he drafted in the group's bass player, Nate Mendel, and drummer, William Goldsmith, and also asked Pat Smear (who had served as a touring guitarist for Nirvana) to join. The group played its debut show in February 1995, and refused to do interviews or tour large venues to promote debut album “Foo Fighters” which was released in July 1995.

After touring through the spring of 1996, Foo Fighters enlisted the help of producer Gil Norton to record material for a sophomore album. Grohl once again wrote all the songs, with the rest of the band collaborating on the arrangements. However, with the sessions nearly complete, Grohl took the rough mixes with him to L.A., intending to finish up his vocal and guitar parts, but realised he wasn't happy with how the mixes were turning out, and the band "basically re-recorded almost everything". During these L.A. sessions, Grohl played drums on some of the songs - Goldsmith said Grohl did not tell him that he had recorded new drum parts for the record and, feeling betrayed, left the band. In need of a replacement, Grohl contacted Alanis Morissette's touring drummer Taylor Hawkins to see if he could recommend anybody, and was surprised when Hawkins volunteered his own services as drummer, making his debut with the group in time for the release of second album, 1997’s “The Colour and the Shape”. More line up changes followed when Pat Smear announced that he wanted to leave the band to pursue other interests, and was replaced by Grohl's former Scream bandmate Franz Stahl. Stahl toured with the band for the next few months, and appeared on 2 tracks that the band recorded for movie soundtracks (a re-recording of "Walking After You" for The X-Files and "A320" for Godzilla).

In 1998, Foo Fighters begun to write material for a third album. However, Grohl and Stahl were unable to co-operate as songwriters, and Grohl, although distraught about the decision to fire Stahl (they had been friends since childhood), did so. The remaining members (Grohl, Mendel, and Hawkins) continued to record third LP “There Is Nothing Left to Lose”, which contained single "Learn to Fly", the band's first single to reach the US Hot 100. After it’s release, Chris Shiflett joined as a touring guitarist but achieved full time status prior to the recording of the group's fourth album in 2001. Prior to this album’s completion, Grohl spent time helping Queens of the Stone Age complete their 2002 LP “Songs for the Deaf”. However, Grohl, inspired by the sessions, decided to reconvene Foo Fighters to rework a few songs, re-recording nearly all of the album (save "Tired of You") in 10 days at Grohl's home studio in Virginia. “One by One” was finally released in October 2002, and the group spent a year and a half touring with it.

Following this, Grohl initially intended to write acoustic material by himself, but eventually the project involved the entire band, and turned into a fifth album, recorded in a newly built recording studio in L.A. dubbed Studio 606 West. Grohl insisted that the album be divided into 2 discs, one full of rock songs, the other featuring acoustic tracks. The resultant “In Your Honor” was released in June 2005. Later the following year, the band released their first ever live CD, “Skin and Bones” featuring 15 performances captured over 3 nights in L.A.

For the follow up to “In Your Honor”, the band reconvened with “The Colour and the Shape” producer Gil Norton. Sixth album “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace” was released in September 2007, with single "The Pretender" topping the Modern Rock chart for a record 18 weeks. This made them the only artist besides Red Hot Chili Peppers to have songs from 4 consecutive albums reach the top (the Chilis have songs from 5 consecutive albums). “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace” was also the band’s 6th album (out of 6) to receive a Grammy nomination.